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Stevens,  William  Bacon,  181 

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The  Sabbaths  of  our  Lord 


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THE  SABBATHS  OF  OUR  LORD. 


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^'^^    S3A(S©K1   STEVIIIK! 


P.T-RTTnP   HF  T"F,l\TK,SYTArAl\^TA 


THE 


Sabbaths  of  Our  Lord 


BY  THE 

Rt.  Rev.  WILLIAM  BACON  STEVENS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

/Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania. 


PHILADELPHIA 
J.    M.    STODDART    &    CO. 

733  SANSOM  STREET 
1873 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

WILLIAM   BACON   STEVENS, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Westcott  &  Thomson, 

Sii'fiotypers  and  Rlectrotypcrs,  Phiiada. 


Henry  B.  Ashmead, 

Pritttcr,  rhi'ada. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE II 

INTRODUCTION 17 

; 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  First  Sasbath  at  Nazareth 39 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  First  Sabbath  at  Nazareth  {Continued) 54 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  First  Sabbath  at  Nazareth  ( Continned) 65 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  First  Sabbath  in  Capernaum 82 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  First  Sabbath  in  Capernaum  ( Continued ) 100 

1*  ,  5 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

The  First  Sabbath  in  Capernaum  {Contijiued) 117 

CHAPTER  Vn. 
The  Sabbath  at  the  Pool  of  Bethesda 134 

CHAPTER  VIH. 
The  Sabbath  in  the  Corn-Fields 159 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Healing  the  Withered  Hand  on  the  Sabbath 182 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Second  Sabbath  in  Nazareth 199 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Healing  of  the  Blind  Man  ON  THE  Sabbath 218 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Healing  of  the  Blind  Man  on  the  Sabbath  (^Continued)  238 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Healing  of  the  Woman  who  had  a  Spirit  of  Infirm- 
ity,  on  the  Sabbath 257 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Dining  ■WITH  One  of  the  Chief  Pharisees  on  the  Sabbath...  275 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PAGE 

The  Sabbath  at  Bethany 294 


CHAPTER  XVI.          , 
Our  Lord's  Sabbath  in  the  Sepulchre 313 


CHAPTER  XVn. 
The  First  Lord's  Day.     I. — The  Morning  Hours 331 

CHAPTER  XVHI. 
The  First  Lord's  Day.    H. — The  Evening  Hours 347 


^          CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Change  of  Day  from  the  Seventh  to  the  First 366 


PREFACE. 


HE  following  work  has  two  designs. 
First,  to  give  an  expository  account 
of  our  Lord's  words^  and  works  on 
the  Jewish  Sabbath,  while  he  tabernacled  in  the 
flesh.  By  grouping  together  the  sketches  of  his 
Sabbaths,  as  recorded  by  the  several  Evangel- 
ists, and  separating  them  from  other  material, 
we  bring  into  clearer  light,  and  undistracted 
observation,  the  sayings  and  the  doings  of  the 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  and  thus  learn  more 
clearly  what  Is  his  mind  and  will,  in  reference  to 
the  divine  command,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath 
day  to  keep  it  holy." 

Secondly,  to    make  a  small    contribution  to 
the  literature  of  the  Sabbath  question. 


10  PREFACE. 

This  question  has  a  wide  compass,  and  a  full 
discussion  of  all  the  points  involved  in  it  would 
fill  volumes.  Hundreds  of  books,  more  or  less 
elaborate,  written  by  the  most  thoughtful  and 
educated  men,  have  been  published  on  all  the 
branches  of  this  important  subject,  so  that  it 
is  doubtful  if  there  is  any  one  phase  of  it  which 
has  not  already  been  fully  discussed.  The 
controversies  of  past  generations,  however,  are 
beinof  revived  in  this.  The  discussions  which 
at  different  times,  raged  with  such  fierceness 
around  the  fourth  commandment,  are  reap- 
pearing now,  though  In  new  forms  and  dress, 
corresponding  to  the  modern  aspects  of  thought 
and  action. 

So  important  a  place  does  a  Sabbath,  or  holy 
rest-day,  hold  in  every  Christian  country,  and 
in  the  Christian  Church,  that  its  sacred  observ- 
ance will  ever  call  out  the  bitter  opposition  of 
the  prince  of  darkness  and  his  human  allies. 
It  needs  but  a  slight  knowledge  of  the  "signs 
of  the  times  "  to  see  what  Inroads  are  already 
being  made  in  desecrating  the  Lord's  day,  and 


PREFACE.  II 

what  efforts  are  put  forth  to  weaken  the  tone  of 
the  pubhc  conscience  on  this  point,  and  to  make 
us  relax  our  hold  upon  It  as  a  divine  and  oblig- 
atory Institution. 

We  cannot  be  blind  to  the  fact,  that  in  various 
parts  of  this  land,  open  attempts  are  now  made 
to  turn  this  rest-day  into  a  continental  Sunday, 
and  make  it  the  weekly  gala-day  of  society 
throuo^hall  its  g^rades.  We  shall  soon  be  called 
upon  to  meet  these  questions  face  to  face.  They 
rise  up  in  our  literature,  in  politics,  in  social  life, 
and  we  cannot  shrink  from  them.  The  keeping 
holy  of  the  Lord's  day,  Is  essential  to  the  very 
existence  and  perpetuity  of  our  nation,  and  It  be- 
comes all  Christian  men,  and  especially  all  minis- 
ters of  Christ,  to  stand  upon  their  watch-towers 
and  give  the  needed  note  of  warning  as  the 
danger  of  wresting  It  from  us  approaches,  that 
the  people  may  take  heed  to  the  Incoming  evil 
and  learn  the  true  nature,  the  real  value,  and 
the  divine  sanction,  of  this  holy  day.  For  it  is 
a  day  essential  to  the  well-being  of  the  Indi- 
vidual, the  family,  the  Church,  the  nation  and  the 


12  PREFACE. 

world ;  to  the  best  interests  of  man  In  this  Hfe, 
and  to  the  higher  interests  of  his  soul  in  the 
life  which  is  to  come.  * 

These  biblical  sketches  of  "  The  Sabbaths  of 
our  Lord"  may  perchance  throw  new  light  Into 
some  minds  on  these  Important  matters.  They 
may  also  serve  a  profitable  purpose  for  family 
reading  on  the  Lord's  day.  .  They  can  be  used 
perhaps  with  wider  interest  by  the  many  lay- 
readers  In  the  Church,  who  may  find  In  these 
pages  Instruction,  guidance  and  pleasure.  They 
might  be  useful  to  Sunday-school  teachers,  and 
furnish  a  whole  winter's  course  of  Instruction  to 
many  Bible  classes.  Thus  they  may  be  the 
humble  means  of  fixing  In  the  minds  of  the 
young  and  the  old,  the  fundamental   principles 

which  underlie  the  Lord's  day,  and  on  which 
we  base  its  origin,  Its  obligation.  Its  perpetuity 

and  Its  unspeakable  blessings. 

The  late  John  Ouincy  Adams,  President  of 
the  United  States,  in  closing  an  address  before 
the  delegates  of  the  National  Lord's  Day  Con- 
vention, used  the  following  significant  words : 


PREFACE.  13 

"It  was  the  remark  of  one  of  the  ablest  and 
purest  of  those  foreigners  who  came  to  our  aid 
in  the  days  of  revolutionary  peril,  and  who 
made  his  home,  and  recently  his  grave,  among 
us — the  late  venerable  Peter  Duponceau  of 
Philadelphia — that  of  all  we  claimed  as  charac- 
teristic, our  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  the 
only  one  truly  national  and  American,  and  for 
this  cause,  if  for  no  other,  he  trusted  it  would 

never  loose  its  hold  on  our  affections  and  patri- 
otism.    It  was  a   noble  thought,  and  may  well 

mingle  with  higher  and  nobler  motives  to  stim- 
ulate our  efforts  and  encourage  our  hopes. 
And  while  it  is  the  glory,  so  eagerly  coveted  by 
other  nations,  that  they  may  be  pre-eminent  in 
conquests  and  extended  rule,  let  us  gladly'ac- 
cept  it  as  our  distinction,  and  wear  it  as  the 
fairest  of  all  that  grace  our  escutcheon,  that  we 
pre-eminendy  honor  the  Sabbath,  and  the  Sab- 
bath's Lord." 

W.  B.  S. 

Philadelphia,  November,  1872. 


"Sundays  observe;  think  when  the  bells  do  chime 
'Tis  angels'  music,  therefore  come  not  late  : 

God  then  deals  blessings 

Let  vain  or  busy  thoughts  there  have  no  part, 

Bring  not  thy  plough,  thy  plot,  thy  pleasures  thither  j 
Christ  purged  his  temple,  so  must  thou  thy  heart. 

George  Herbert. 


) 


INTRODUCTION. 


/ 


THE   OLD-TESTAMENT   SABBATH. 


E  have  In  the  four  Gospels  the  record 
of  quite  a  number  of  our  Lord's  Sab- 
baths. They  show  us  where  he  was, 
what  he  said,  and  what  he  did,  on  this  day  of 
rest.  They  bring  before  us  a  great  variety  of 
facts,  places,  scenes,  and  a  series  of  holy  teach- 
ings uttered  by  our  Lord  in  various  cities  and 
villages  of  Judea.  We  shall  thus  be  hearing 
from  week  to  week  the  words  of  Him  who 
"  spake  as  never  man  spake,"  the  holiest  of 
preachers,  on  the  holiest  of  days. 

It  is  Interestlnor  to  know  how  He  '*  who  made 
all  things,"  and  who,  as  the  Creator  of  heaven 
and  of  earth,  "  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from 


2* 


B 


17 


1 8  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

all  his  work  which  he  had  made,"  and  who,  In 
consequence,  "  blessed  the  seventh  day  and  hal- 
lowed it,"  would  do  when  he  came  to  the  earth 
which  he  had  made,  to  save  the  men  whom  he 
had  created. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  how  He,  who  gave 
Moses  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  would  act  under 
his  own  law  when  he  tabernacled  in  the  flesh. 

It  is  Interestinor  to  mark  how  ''  the  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath"  would  conduct  himself  in  refer- 
ence to  those  many  and  onerous  glosses  and 
traditions,  with  which  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
had  encumbered  the  fourth  commandment, 
whether  he  would  tacitly  acknowledge  their 
authority  or  sweep  them  away,  by  his  word  and 
example,  as  so  many  human  incrustations  on  the 
divine  law. 

These  points  will  be  Illustrated  as  we  pro- 
ceed, and  we  shall  gain  new  and  interesting 
facts  concerning  our  Saviour's  personal  history 
by  attentively  studying  the  records  of  his  Sab- 
baths after  his  public  entrance  upon  his  ministry 
as  detailed  by  the  several  Evangelists. 

Before  we  enter  upon  these  separate  Sabbath 
sketches,  let  us  turn  back  to  the  old  Hebrew 
Sabbath,  and  look  at  its  origin,  history  and  de- 


THE    OLD- TESTA  ME  NT  SABBATH.  1 9 

sign.  As  to  its  origin,  it  was  Instituted  at  the 
end  of  the  six  days'  work  of  creation  by  God 
himself,  and  was  designed  to  commemorate  his 
rest  on  the  seventh  day  ''  from  all  his  work 
which  he  had  made."  Hence  "he  blessed  the 
Sabbath  day  and  sanctified  It." 

By  "blessing  the  Sabbath  day"  we  are  to  un- 
derstand that  he  desio^ned  it  to  be  fountain  and 
source  of  blessing,  for  only  thus  can  time,  which 
has  no  personality  or  consciousness,  be  blessed. 
He  therefore  constituted  this  day  as  one  fraught 
with  special  blessings. 

By  "sanctifying"  the  seventh  day  we  under- 
stand, in  accordance  with  the  use  of  Old-Testa- 
ment language,  the  hallowing  or  setting  it  apart 
from  other  days  by  specific  acts  and  consecrat- 
ing it  for  an  holy  purpose. 

Thus  on  the  first  page  of  Revelation  we  find 
these  three  great  facts,  that  God,  having  com- 
pleted the  works  of  creation,  "  rested  the  sev- 
enth day  from  all  his  work  that  he  had  made" — 
that  a  seventh  day's  rest,  or  Sabbath,  was  in 
consequence  thereof  designated  for  all  the  fu- 
ture as  a  day  of  blessing,  or  a  "blessed"  day — 
that  this  seventh  portion  of  time  was  hence- 
forth,  by   divine   ordering,   to   be   set  apart   as 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

"sanctified"  time,  and  kept  apart  from  all  secu- 
lar uses  and  pursuits. 

These  are  the  trinal  roots  of  that  s^reat  insti- 
tution  which,  ordained  by  God  himself  and  ex- 
ampled  forth  to  us  in  his  own  holy  rest  from 
creative  work,  was  by  him  specially  charged 
with  blessing,  and  by  him  specially  separated 
and  sanctified  for  his  service  and  man's  welfare. 

The  name  Sabbath  given  to  this  day  comes 
from  the  Hebrew  Shabath,  which  signifies  to 
rest,  whence  Shabbdth,  the  day  of  rest.  The 
root  of  these  words  is  S/ieba,  or  seven,  a  num- 
ber which,  not  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  alone,  but 
in  the  language  of  most  of  the  Eastern  nations, 
signifies  fullness,'  completeness  or  perfection. 
Hence  we  find  in  those  nations,  as  the  biblical 
and  classical  scholar  well  knows,  septenary  di- 
visions of  time,  consisting  of  cycles  of  seven 
days,  or  seven  months,  or  seven  years,  which 
can  be  accounted  for  only  by  referring  them 
back  to  the  seventh-day  rest  after  creation,  the 
traditions  of  which  spread  themselves  over,  and 
rooted  themselves  in,  the  laneuaoes  of  the 
Eastern  nations. 

These  things  link  the'Sabbath  with  God  as  its  - 
author,  with  the  finished  work,  creation,  as  its 


THE    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  21 

first  day  of  observance,  and  with  man  as  the 
being  to  whom  pertains  the  blessings  of  this 
sanctified  season.  It  thus  has  a  divine  basis,  a 
worldly  basis,  a  human  basis,  and  Is  as  universal 
In  Its  obllratlon  as  the  world  In  which  It  was 

o 

first  proclaimed,  and  Is  as  enduring  In  Its  perpe- 
tuity as  the  human  race,  for  whose  special  bless- 
ing and  sanctlficatlon  It  was  ordained.  While 
In  the  succeeding  patriarchal  times  we  find  no 
formal  mention  of  the  Sabbath,  yet  we  notice 
numerous  Indications  of  it  appearing  here  and 
there,  showing  with  conclusive  force  that  the 
institution  was  still  preserved,  though  in  the 
lapse  of  centuries  and  In  the  wide  dispersion  of 
the  human  race  its  obllofatlons  were  less  heeded 
and  its  observance  less  marked  and  regarded. 

Over  two  thousand  years  pass  away  before 
we  again  meet  with  any  formal  notice  of  this 
day.  The  time  and  the  occasion  of  its  reappear- 
ance were  bodi  interestlnof.  The  children  of 
Israel,  to  the  number  of  nearly  three  millions, 
and  under  the  leadership  of  Moses,  had  escaped 
from  Egypt,  had  crossed  the  Red  Sea,  had  gone 
a  month's  march  on  their  way  to  the  promised 
land,  and  were  now  encamped  in  the  wilderness 
between  Ellm,  with  its  wells  and  Its  palm  trees, 


2  2  INTR  on  UC  TIOiV. 

and  Sinai,  so  soon  to  smoke  at  the  presence  of 
God.  The  people  had  murmured  for  water  and 
for  bread.  God  gave  them  manna  from  heaven. 
Of  this  bread  the  people  gathered  an  "omer" 
(six  pints)  for  each  person,  except  that  on  the 
sixth  day  they  gathered  "  two  omers  for  each 
person."  This  Moses  explained  by  saying,  "  This 
Is  that  which  the  Lord  hath  said.  To-morrow  Is 
the  rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord." 
"Eat  that  to-day,  for  to-day  is  a  Sabbath  unto 
the  Lord  ;  to-day  ye  shall  not  find  It  In  the  field  ; 
six  days  shall  ye  gather  it,  but  on  the  seventh 
day,  which  is  the  Sabbath,  in  it  there  shall  be 
none."  This  transaction  took  place  one  month 
before  the  delivery  of  the  Law  on  Mount  Sinai, 
and  therefore  was  but  the  resuscitation  or  the 
bringing  forward  again  into  prominent  view  the 
old  organic  law  of  God  in  Paradise. 

Again,  therefore,  did  God  determine  to  re- 
Institute  his  almost  forgotten  Sabbath,  and  to 
re-enact  It  under  such  circumstances  as  should 
strike  the  beholder  with  awe  and  Illustrate  his 
own  majesty.  Hence,  on  the  top  of  Sinai,  upon 
which  he  had  descended  in  fire,  and  up  to  which 
he  had  called  Moses,  and  amidst  thunderings 
and  lightnings  and  earthquakes,  he  gave  the  ten 


THE    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  23 

commandments  and  wrote  them  with  his  own 
finger  upon  two  tables  of  stone,  as  If  too  jeal- 
ous of  their  sacredness  and  their  accuracy  to 
permit  Moses,  or  even  Gabriel,  to  be  an  amanu- 
ensis on  so  solemn  an  occasion.  Remarkable 
Indeed  must  those  laws  be,  which  God  did  not 
trust  Moses,  his  great  prophet — no,  nor  yet 
angels  or  archangels — to  write  out  or  even  copy 
from  his  mouth,  but  which  he  must  write  with 
his  own  finger,  and  on  tables,  not  of  brass  or 
gold  of  man's  make,  but  of  stone  of  his  own 
handiwork,  that  man  might  have  the  exact  and 
literal  transcript  of  his  will,  so  that  there  should 
be  no  possibility  of  mistake  as  to  its  words  or 
Its  meaning.  The  code  of  laws,  or  ten  com- 
mandments, which  God  thus  gave  on  Mount 
Sinai  is  the  moral  law  of  the  world,  given  at 
that  time  in  special  charge  to  the  Jews,  because 
to  them  were  to  be  committed  the  oracles  of 
God,  and  deposited  by  Moses,  at  God's  com- 
mand, In  the  ark  of  the  covenant ;  the  only  laws 
thus  secured,  but  designed,  by  their  very  tenor, 
for  the  whole  world,  and  recognized  as  such  by 
our  Lord  and  his  apostles,  and  by  the  Church 
of  God  wherever  found. 

The  law  of  the  Sabbath  stands  as  the  fourth 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

of  these  commands.  It  is  crraven  on  the  same 
stone  tables  with  the  other  nine  ;  it  was  written 
w^ith  the  same  finger  which  wrote  the  others ;  it 
was  deposited  under  the  mercy-seat  in  the  ark 
of  the  covenant,  and  between  the  outstretched 
wings  of  the  cherubim  in  the  holy  of  holies 
with  the  rest ;  and  if  the  other  nine  are  moral 
laws,  the  fourth  is  also ;  if  the  fourth  is  not,  the 
other  nine  are  not.  If  the  nine  are  designed  for 
all  men,  so  is  the  fourth ;  if  the  fourth  is  not 
designed  for  all,  neither  are  the  other  nine. 
They  stand  or  fall  together.  The  attempt  made 
by  men  who  would  relax  the  obligation  of  the 
Sabbath  to  sever  the  fourth  command  from  the 
Decaloorue,  and  desio^nate  it  as  ceremonial  and 
partial,  is  a  rude  dislocation  of  that  command 
from  its  true  articulations  and  attachments  that 
destroys  at  once  the  majesty  and  symmetry  of 
that  moral  code,  the  ten  laws  of  which  seem 
to  be  the  ten  fingers  of  the  two  hands  of  God, 
whereby  he  upholds  the  moral  government  of 
the  world. 

The  majesty  of  this  fourth  commandment 
comes  out  more  clearly  if  we  dwell  a  moment 
on  its  peculiar  construction.  It  was  ushered  in 
by  an  emphatic  word  which  marked  no  other — 


THE    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  2$ 

"Remember!"  not  only  Implying  that  they 
should  recall  the  original  Institution  of  their 
patriarchal  Sabbath,  which  tradition,  perhaps, 
had  handed  down,  but  also  implying  that  they 
should  give  this  command  in  special  charge  to 
their  memory,  that  It  might  not  be  forgotten 
throuorhout  all  their  creneratlons. 

o  o 

It  is  drawn  up  with  a  minuteness  of  specifica- 
tion which  we  find  In  no  other  command.  It  is 
based,  as  none  other  is,  on  God's  special  exam- 
ple. It  is  the  only  one  linked  with  his  special 
blessing  and  hallowing.  It  is  the  only  one  given 
both  negatively  and  positively.  No  command 
was  more  frequently  repeated,  none  more  care- 
fully guarded ;  and  it  is  the  only  command  of 
which  God  said  that  it  was  a  "  slo^n"  between  him 
and  the  children  of  Israel,  throughout  their  gen- 
erations, for  a  perpetual  covenant,  and  this  pe- 
culiar language  is  repeated  no  less  than  four 
times  by  Moses  and  Ezeklel. 

To  those,  then,  who  calmly  look  at  these 
points,  it  becomes  perfectly  clear  that  the  fourth 
commandment  is  of  perpetual  moral  obligation, 
— that  it  Is  still  binding  with  all  its  original  force, 
— that  it  demands  of  us  the  same  obedience 
which  we  pay  to  the  first,  the  sixth  or  the  tenth, 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

for  it  Is  as  much  the  expression  of  God's  will, 
and  as  much  the  requirement  of  God's  authority, 
as  any  one  In  the  Decalogue.  - 

It  is  to  be  observed,  in  this  connection,  that 
there  are  two  phases  under  which  the  law  of  the 
ten  commandments  is  to  be  viewed:  i.  As  a 
code  designed  for  the  whole  world ;  2.  As  a 
code  specially  adapted -to  the  Jews;  and  these 
two  phases  are  discernible  in  the  very  structure 
of  the  Decalogue,  as  a  moment's  contemplation 
will  show. 

The  germ,  the  root-principle,  of  each  of  the 
ten  commandments  Is  Invariably  enunciated  as  a 
distinct  proposition,  and  in  the  briefest  and  most 
emphatic  language;  e.g.,  the  second  command- 
ment, which  in  our  Bibles  is  divided  Into  three 
verses,  is  all  expressed  in  the  original  by  three 
or  four  words — Thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself 
idols.  The  third  commandment  In  four  words — 
Thou  shalt  not  take  up  the  name  of  the  Lord 
thy  God  in  vanity.  The  fourth  commandment 
in  five  words — Remember  the  rest-day,  to  hal- 
low it.  The  fifth  in  four  or  five  words — Honor 
thy  father  and  thy  mother.  The  sixth,  the  sev- 
enth, the  eighth,  the  ninth.  In  two  words  each, 
and  the  tenth,  though  occupying  several  lines,  is 


THE    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  2/ 

really  contained  in  the  two  Hebrew  words 
translated  Thou  shalt  not  covet.  So  that  the 
entire  ten  commandments  are  comprised  in  the 
original  Hebrew  in  less  than  forty  words,  and 
these  few  words  embrace  the  principles  of  the 
moral  law  as  designed  for  the  whole  world. 
To  this  day  they  form  the  basis  of  all  moral 
law  and  oblisfation,  and  the  ethics  and  the  laws 
of  the  world  are  perfect  and  effective,  just  in 
proportion  as  they  Accept  and  develop  and  guard 
these  foundation-principles  of  duty  and  justice 
to  God  and  man  as  laid  down  in  the  ten  com- 
mandments. 

The  fourth  of  these  commandments  reads, 
"Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy. 
Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work, 
but  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord 
thy  God.  In  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou 
nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant 
nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy 
stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates,  for  in  six  days 
the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and 
all  that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day, 
wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day  and 
hallowed  it."  Ex.  xx.  8-11.  This  was  the  for- 
mal   proclamation   of  the    Sabbatic  law.     It  is 


2  8  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

embedded  In  a  divine  code  not  one  provision 
of  which  has  been  abroo^ated  or  set  aside. 

It  should  be  observed  that  in  the  very  enact- 
incr  of  this  law  of  the  Sabbath  the  divine  Law- 
giver  traces  it  back  to  Its  origin  In  his  own  rest 
on  the  seventh  day,  deduces  from  that  the 
reason  for  its  perpetual  and  universal  observ- 
ance, and  is  the  only  one  of  the  ten  command- 
ments for  which  an  historic  reason  is  assigned. 

This  law  has  never  been  abrogated ;  the  day 
has  been  changed,  but  the  obligation  to  set 
apart  a  seventh  portion  of  time  as  hallowed 
time  still  holds,  and  will  hold  till  the  end  of 
time. 

Under  the  Jewish  economy  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath  Involved  several  points.  In  the  twenty- 
third  chapter  of  the  book  of  Leviticus  we  find 
this  law  Incorporated  Into  the  statutes  of  the 
Jewish  theocracy,  with  certain  added  prescrip- 
tions designed  to  show  how  it  was  to  be  kept 
holy.  There  it  stands  at  the  head  of  that  chap- 
ter wherein  are  officially  declared  by  Moses, 
acting  by  express  command  of  God,  what  shall 
be  the  "  feasts  of  the  Lord  "  and  '*  the  holy  con- 
vocations "  of  his  people  Israel.  "  Six  days 
shall  work  be  done,  but  the  seventh  day  is  the 


THE    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  2(^ 

Sabbath  of  rest,  a  holy  convocation ;  it  is  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Lord  in  all  your  dwellings." 
This  is  the  ordinance  of  the  Sabbath  as  found  in 
the  Jewish  statute-book,  the  book  of  Leviticus. 
Like  the  law  of  Sinai,  it  enjoins  six  days  of 
labor  and  a  seventh  day  of  rest.  In  addition  to 
this  positive  command  it  requires  two  things — 
thatthls  Sabbath  shall  be  ''a  holy  convocation," 
and  that  It  shall  be  kept  "  in  all  your  dwellings." 
From  the  SInaltic  law  and  the  Levltical  statute 
we  gather  these  elemental  and  obligatory  points. 
The  Sabbath  was  to  be  a  rest  day ;  it  was  to  be 
the  seventh  day ;  it  was  to  be  a  Jioly  day ;  it 
was  to  be  a  day  of  holy  convocation,  or  the  as- 
sembling of  people  for  holy  purposes ;  and  it 
was  to  be  kept  in  eveiy  fmnily  and  dzuelling. 
God  distinctly  declared  (Ex.  xxxi.  i6,  17), 
"Wherefore  the  children  of  Israel  shall  keep  the 
Sabbath,  to  observe  the  Sabbath  throughout  their 
generations,  for  a  perpetual  covenant.  It  is  a  sign 
between  me  and  the  children  of  Israel  for  ever." 
The  penalty  of  death  was  affixed  to  the  break- 
ing of  the  Sabbath :  "  Every  one  that  defileth  it 
shall  surely  be  put  to  death,  for  whosoever  doeth 
any  work  therein,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from 
among   his    people."      These    facts    prove    the 


30  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

truth  of  the  remark  that  ''there  was  no  rite  nor 
Institution,  not  even  circumcision,  by  which  the 
Jews  were  more  conspicuously  distinguished 
from  surroundinof  nations  and  marked  off  as  the 
worshipers  of  Jehovah,  the  Creator  of  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  Their  Sabbath-keeping  was  a 
perpetual  and  visible  token  of  the  connection 
in  which  they  stood  to  God,  and  of  the  great 
mission  which  under  him  they  were  set  apart  to 
discharge."  It  was  the  sio^n  between  God  and 
his  people — the  sign  of  the  covenant ;  so  that  to 
break  the  Sabbath  was  to  break  the  covenant 
with  God. 

Aside  from  these  general  regulations,  there 
were  no  specific  directions  as  to  how  the  Sab- 
bath should  be  spent.  There  w^as  in  the  earlier 
days  of  the  Jewish  Church  no  prescribed  relig- 
ious observance  for  this  day,  except  that  the 
daily  sacrifices  were  to  be  doubled  and  the 
loaves  of  shew-bread  on  the  table  In  the  holy 
place  were  to  be  renewed  by  twelve  fresh  cakes. 

It  was  a  day  of  sacred  festivity,  of  social 
gathering,  of  religious  instruction,  of  personal 
freedom,  of  physical  rest  for  man  and  beast. 
As  the  nation  grew  in  wealth  and  luxury,  as 
they  imbibed  by  the  very  process   of  contact 


THh    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  3 1 

evil  habits  and  thouorhts  from  the  surroundhiof 
heathen  nations,  as  amidst  their  own  tribal 
rivalries  and  internecine  wars  laxity  of  morals 
grew  apace,  so  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  like  the 
other  laws  of  God,  became  gradually  neglected 
and  profaned.  Work  encroached  little  by  little 
on  rest,  secularity  usurped  the  place  of  devo- 
tion ;  and  though  one  prophet  after  another  was 
raised  up  to  warn  the  people,  yet  the  defection 
went  on  until  the  captivity  engulfed  priest  and 
people  and  sacrifices  and  Sabbaths  in  one  over- 
whelming sorrow  and  chastisement.  They  had 
polluted  his  Sabbaths  and  broken  his  covenant, 
and  hence  God  eave  them  for  a  time  into  the 
hands  of  their  enemies.  After  their  return  un- 
der Nehemiah  a  stricter  observance  was  en- 
forced. The  lessons  learned  in  the  captivity 
w^ere  severe  but  w^holesome.  The  temporary 
expatriation  had  brought  with  it  great  search- 
ings  of  heart,  and  these  had  resulted  in  great 
resolutions  of  amendment  of  life.  As  they  sat 
by  the  rivers  of  Babylon  they  looked  back  to 
their  once  quiet  Sabbaths  and  holy  convocations 
as  to  fading  visions  of  delight. 

As  their  harps  hung  silent  upon  the  willows 
they  called  to  mind  their  joyous   festivals  and 


32  INTRODUCTION. 

seventh-day  gladness ;  and  thus  thrown  in  upon 
themselves,  and  made  to  bend  their  minds  upon 
the  inner  blessincrs  of  the  land  and  the  cove- 
nant  which  they  had  to  all  appearance  lost,  they 
saw  the  greatness  of  their  loss,  and  mourned  in 
bitterness  of  spirit  their  expatriation  from  Judea 
and  the  destruction  of  their  holy  temple.  It 
was  after  the  captivity  that  the  Schools  of  the 
Rabbis  were  founded  and  the  sect  of  the  Phari- 
sees established.  The  laxity  of  former  times 
was  now  offset  by  extreme  rigidity.  A  spirit 
of  intense  Judaism  was  fostered  by  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees.  The  law  of  Moses  was  overlaid 
with  the  incrustations  of  rabbinic  traditions. 
The  teachings  of  the  elders  were  only  instilling 
into  the  minds  of  learners  the  punctilious  ob- 
servance  of  human   commandments   enorrafted 

o 

on  the  divine,  until  at  last  the  parasitic  com- 
mandments overshadowed  the  orio^inal  law  of 
God,  sucked  out  its  real  strength,  and  substi- 
tuted that  which  was  human  and  illegal,  for  that 
which  was  legal  and  divine. 

This  spirit  finds  its  record  in  the  Mishna  and 
the  Gemmara,  and  in  the  Talmud,  the  common 
and  post-Christian  repository  of  all  the  exac- 
tions, sayings,  traditions,  puerilities  and  extrava- 


THE    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  33 

gances  of  the  great  Jewish  schools  and  the  doc- 
tors of  the  Jewish  law.  The  pharlsaic  party,  In 
their  zeal  to  tone  up  the  long- relaxed  popular 
mind,  and  to  reinstate  the  almost  practically 
abolished  Sabbath,  did  that  which  degraded 
rather  than  exalted  it,  and  "  made  it  the  object 
of  an  idolatrous  regard,  the  central  figure  in  a 
religion  wholly  ceremonial."  Its  primary  injunc- 
tion, "  Thou  shalt  do  no  manner  of  work,"  \vas 
falsely  held  as  aimed  at  all  kinds  of  work  what- 
ever, no  less  than  thirty-nine  kinds  or  classes 
of  work  being  specified  as  involved  in  the  pro- 
hibition. Thus  it  was  stated  that  grass  was  not 
to  be  trodden  on  on  the  Sabbath,  for  the  bruis- 
ing of  it  was  a  species  of  harvest  work.  A 
man  mio-ht  fill  a  trousfh  with  water  for  beasts  to 
come  to,  but  might  not  carry  water  to  them. 
To  eat  an  ^<gg  laid  on  the  first  day  of  the  week 
was  interdicted  because  presumably  it  was 
prepared  in  the  order  of  nature  on  the  sev- 
enth or  Sabbath  day.  Shoes  with  nails  were 
not  to  be  worn  on  that  day,  as  that  was  the 
carrying  of  a  burden  ;  and  according  to  one 
school  of  teaching,  it  was  not  only  not  lawful 
to  heal  on  the  Sabbath  day,  but  it  was  wrong 
even  to  minister  to  the  sick.     It  was  also  laid 


34  INTRODUCTION. 

down  in  the  MIshna  that  when  the  sun  begins 
to  darken  a  tailor  must  not  walk  out  with  his 
needle  lest  sunset  should  overtake  him  carrying 
it.  Nor  may  a  scribe  walk  out  with  his  ink- 
horn  and  pen  lest  he  forget  and  go  with  it  in 
his  hand.  After  the  Sabbath  lamp  is  lighted 
one  must  not  begin  to  pick  vermin  from  his 
clothes,  nor  yet  begin  to  read  by  its  light,  for 
that  would  be  servile  work.  These  Sabbatic 
laws,  in  all  their  burdensome  minuteness  and 
frivolousness,  were  an  essential  part  of  Judaism. 
It  has  been  truly  said,  "They  burden  the  con- 
science of  the  sincere  and  make  the  unscrupu- 
lous hypocrites."  "  For  to  keep  the  rabbinical 
Sabbath  aright  it  is  necessary  to  be  perfectly 
acquainted  with  all  the  laws  relating  to  it,  which 
are  very  many  and  very  intricate,  occupying 
above  one  hundred  and  seventy  folio  pages." 

Maimonides  and  Kimchi,  fathers  of  the  tra- 
ditions, in  a  gloss  upon  the  words  of  Isaiah 
(Ivlii..  13),  "Thou  shalt  call  the  Sabbath  a  de- 
light," say,  "  It  is  forbidden  to  fast  on  the  Sab- 
bath, but  on  the  contrary  men  are  bound  to  de- 
light themselves  with  meat  and  drink,  for  we 
must  live  more  delicately  on  the  Sabbath  than 
other  days,  and  he  is  highly  to  be  commended 


THE    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  35 

who  provides  the  most  deHcious  junkets  against 
that  day.  We  must  eat  thrice  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  all  men  are  to  be  admonished  of  It ;  and 
even  the  poor  themselves,  who  live  on  alms,  let 
them  eat  thrice  on  the  Sabbath,  for  he  that 
feasts  thrice  on  the  Sabbath  shall  be  delivered 
from  the  calamities  of  the  Messiah,  from  the 
judgment  of  hell  and  from  the  war  of  Gog  and 

Mao;ocr." 

This  is  an  Instance-^— and  they  might  be  Indefi- 
nitely multiplied — where,  starting  from  a  true 
principle  that  the  Sabbath  was  to  be  a  delight 
and  not  a  day  of  dull  austerity,  they  run  out 
their  Interpretations  Into  most  ridiculous  details, 
the  usual  style  of  rabbinical  theology  stretching 
the  literal  interpretation  to  the  perversion,  and 
subversion  often,  of  the  true  spirit  and  intent 
of  the  law.  "  Under  the  shadow  of  the  tradi- 
tions the  most  palpable  illegalities  could  be  with 
impunity  committed,  and  even,  on  occasions,  the 
literal  meaning  of  one  ordinance  could  be  played 
off  against  another  so  that  both  should  be  ren- 
dered futile." 

Such  are  a  specimen  of  the  absurdities  and 
excesses  which  the  pharisaic  party  ran  into  In 
their  attempt  to  throw  guards  and  restrictions 


36  INTRODUCTION. 

around  the  fourth  commandment.  Missing  to 
a  great  extent  its  inner  spirit,  they  legislated  for 
its  outward  observance.  Led  on  by  a  line  of 
false  interpretation  which  made  no  allowance  for 
change  of  times  and  circumstances,  and  which 
looked  fixedly  and  solely  to  the  letter  of  the 
command,  they  were  led  by  their  inexorable 
loo^ic  to  the  conclusions  which  we  have  stated. 
They  erected  cheval  -  de  -  frise  around  that 
law,  bristling  with  a  hundred  points,  upon 
any  one  of  which  the  incautious  and  unwary 
would  impale  himself  They  made  this  law^the 
first  and  great  commandment,  the  keeping  of  it 
superior  in  its  sanctity  to  all  the  others,  and  de- 
clared that  he  who  kept  the  Sabbath  holy — holy 
in  their  sense — w^ould  merit  salvation  even  if 
he  broke  every  other  command  in  the  Deca- 
logue. Thus  they  made  the  word  of  God  of 
none  effect  through  their  traditions,  and  they 
taueht  for  divine  doctrine  the  commandments 
of  men. 

"  You  remember  and  admire,"  says  Coleridge, 
"  the  saying  of  an  old  divine  that  ceremony 
duly  initiated  is  a  chain  of  gold  around  the  neck 
of  faith ;  but  if  In  the  wish  to  make  it  co-essen- 
tial and  consubstantial  you  draw  it  closer  and 


THE    OLD-TESTAMENT  SABBATH.  37 

closer,  It  may  strangle  the  faith  it  was  made  to 
deck  and  designate."  This  is  what  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  did  to  the  Sabbath.  They  stran- 
ded It  with  the  chains  of  excessive  exactions 
and  directions.  Its  true  life,  vigor,  breadth, 
glory,  w^as  gone  in  the  tightening  of  those  liga- 
tures which  they  fastened  around  its  neck,  de- 
signedly for  its  more  comely  adornment,  but 
resultinof  in  the  eventual  destruction  of  the  or- 
dinance  in  its  true  import  as  established  by 
God. 

It  is  important  to  bear  these  things  In  mind 
in  studying  the  acts  of  our  Lord  on  the  Sab- 
bath day.  Much  of  the  force  of  his  teaching 
and  of  his  example  Is  lost  If  we  are  Ignorant  of 
the  peculiar  aspect  of  the  Sabbath  question  in 
his  day. 

We  find  him  on  no  less  than  seven  different 
occasions  workinof  miracles  of  healinor  on  that 
day  and  justifying  himself  to  the  carping  Phari- 
sees by  saying,  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto, 
and  I  v/ork."  We  notice  him  every  now  and 
then  animadverting  upon  their  glosses  and  tra- 
ditions as  exalting  the  "  letter  of  the  law,  which 
killeth,"  above  "  its  spirit,  which  giveth  life." 

Coming,  as  Jesus  did,  ''  not  to  destroy  the  law, 


38  INTRODUCTION. 

but  to  fulfill"  It,  It  was  necessary  that  he  should 
first  recover  the  law  from  the  manipulations  of 
its  professed  friends — that  he  should  let  It  be 
seen  what  It  originally  was,  and  what  It  was 
meant  for,  and  how  it  was  to  be  kept.  To  this 
end,  he  removed  the  additions  which  age  after 
ao^e  had  been  added  to  the  divine  statute  until 
at  last,  what  men  had  enacted,  covered  up  what 
God  had  ordained. 

Like  everything  else  which  he  touched,  Jesus 
put  this  law  In  its  true  position  and  light.  He 
rescued  It  from  the  hands  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  and  showed  It  as  God  would  have  us 
esteem  It,  a  day  of  holy  rest,  holy  service  and 
merciful  works.  It  was  God  the  Son  comment- 
ing by  word  and  deed  upon  the  law  of  God  the 
Father.  And  God  the  Holy  Ghost  has  inspired 
holy  men  of  old  to  write  out  these  teachings 
and  incidents : — and  thus  we  have  the  threefold 
testimony  of  the  triune  God  to  the  true  nature 
and  blessedness  of  the  patriarchal,  the  Mosaic 
and  the  Christian  Sabbath. 


NAZARETH. 


The  Sabbaths  of  Our  Lord. 


CHAPTER   I. 
THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH. 

"  And  he  came  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been  brought  up  :  and,  as 
his  custom  was,  he  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and 
stood  up  for  to  read.     And  there  was  delivered  unto  him  the  book  of 
the  prophet  Esaias.     And  when  he  had  opened  the  book,  he  found  the 
place  where  it  was  written,  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  be- 
cause he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor;  he  hath 
sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  cap- 
tives, and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.     And  he  closed 
the  bock,  and  he  gave  it  again  to  the  minister,  and  sat  down.     And 
the  eyes  of  all  them  that  were  in  the  synagogue  wei-e  fastened  on  him. 
And  he  began  to  say  unto  them.  This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears.     And  all  bare  him  witness,  and  wondered  at  the  gracious 
words  which  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth.     And  they  said.  Is  not  this 
Joseph's  son  ?      And  he  said  unto  them.  Ye  will  surely  say  unto  me 
this  proverb.  Physician,  heal  thyself:  whatsoever  we  have  heard  done 
in  Capernaum,  do  also  here  in  thy  country.     And  he  said,  Verily  I  say 
unto  you.  No  prophet  is  accepted  in  his  own  country.     But  I  tell  you 
of  a  truth,  many  widows  were  in  Israel  in  the  days  of  Elias,  when  the 
heaven  was  shut  up  three  years  and  six  months,  when  great  famine  was 
throughout  all  the  land ;  but  unto  none  of  them  was  Elias  sent,  save  unto 
Sarepta,  a  city  of  Sidon,  unto  a  woman  that  zuas  a  widow.     And  many 
lepers  were  in  Israel  in  the  time  of  Eliseus  the  prophet ;  and  none  of 
them  was  cleansed,  saving  Naaman  the  Syrian.     And  all  they  in  the 
synagogue,  when  they  heard  these  things,  were  filled  with  wrath,  and 
rose  up,  and  thrust  him  out  of  the  city,  and  led  him  unto  the  brow  of 
the  hill  whereon  their  city  was  built,  that  they  might  cast  him  down 
headlong.     But  he  passing  through  the  midst  of  them  went  his  way, 
and  came  down  to  Capernaum,  a  city  of  Galilee,  and  taught  them  on 
the  Sabbath  days."  LuKE  iv.  16-31. 

39 


40  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 


E  shall  speak  of  this  Sabbath  first,  be- 
cause in  his  teachings  on  this  day  our 
Lord  opened  before  us  his  whole  work 
and  mission  as  the  Messiah.      The  Evanorelist 

o 

says,  ''He  came  to  Nazai^eth^'  implying  that  he 
had  been  away,  and  so  he  had.  When  he  became 
thirty  years  old,  the  Levitical  age  at  which  only 
a  man  could  take  upon  himself  the  ofhce  of  a 
priest,  he  left  Nazareth,  and  we  find  him  visit- 
ing John  the  Baptist,  who  was  preaching  "  the 
baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins" 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  Jordan,  and  thus  ful- 
filling his  office  as  "  the  voice  of  one  crying  in 
the  wilderness.  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord." 

Here,  and  by  his  own  "  Forerunner,"  he  was 
baptized,  for  thus  ''it  became  him  to  fulfill  all 
righteousness."  Here,  as  he  went  up  from  the 
river's  brink,  ''  he  saw  the  heavens  opened,  and 
the  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove  and 
lighting  upon  him,  and  lo  a  voice  from  heaven 
saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Son  In  whom  I  am 
well  pleased." 

From  this  baptismal  scene  he  was  "led  up 
of  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted 
of  the  devil."     In  this  wilderness  (whether  it  be 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  4 1 

the  desert  between  the  Mount  of  OHves  and 
Jericho,  called  Ouarantania,  as  some  suppose,  or 
the  desert  of  Arabia,  as  is  believed  by  others) 
he  fasted  "  forty  days  and  forty  nights."  From 
this  wilderness,  having  first  overcome  the  devil 
in  his  threefold  temptation  by  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God,  he  departed 
into  Galilee  and  went  to  Nazareth,  "  w^here  he 
had  been  brought  up."  Were  it  not  that  every- 
thinof  connected  with  our  Lord's  birth  and 
earthly  life  is  a  marvel,  and  goes  contrary  to 
man's  preconceived  opinions,  we  should  w^onder 
that  so  obscure  a  place  as  Nazareth  should  be 
selected  as  the  place  of  his  longest  earthly  so- 
journ. It  is  not  once  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,  nor  by  the  Jewish  historian  Jose- 
phus,  nor  do  we  find  any  record  of  its  exist- 
ence until  it  is  spoken  of  as  the  home  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.  The  name  is  derived  from  the 
Hebrew  w^ord  Netser  or  "  branch,"  and  means 
the  "city  of  branches,"  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
teaches  us  that  by  growing  up  at  Nazareth,  the 
city  of  branches.  He  whose  name  is  ''The 
Branch"  thus  fulfilled  the  spirit  of  the  ancient 
prophecies  of  Isaiah  (xl.  i),  Jeremiah  (xxiii.  5) 
and  Zechariah   (ill.  8),  which  St.  Matthew  has 


4« 


42  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD, 

condensed  into  the  phrase  "  he  shall  be  called  a 
Nazarene." 

In  the  turbulent  district  of  Lower  Galilee, 
and  in  the  province  given  to  the  tribe  of  Zebu- 
Ion,  lies  this  now  famous  town.  According  to 
the  rate  of  travel  in  that  country,  it  is  a  three 
days' journey  from  Jerusalem,  being  about  sixty- 
five  miles  north  of  it. 

After  crossing  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  so  cele- 
brated for  centuries  as  the  battlefield  of  many 
of  the  most  warlike  nations  of  the  world,  from 
the  times  of  Deborah  and  Sisera  dowm  to  the 
last  year  of  the  last  century,  when  Bonaparte 
obtained  there  a  signal  victory  over  the  Turks, 
you  ascend  the  hills  which  constitute  the  south- 
ern ridges  of  the  Lebanon  range,  and  winding 
among  them  in  their  picturesque  beauty  for  a 
little  while,  you  then  gradually  descend  into 
Nazareth.  It  lies  in  a  beautiful  sequestered 
nook  in  the  midst  of  fertile  slopes  and  valleys, 
and  its  gardens  abound  with  the  olive,  the  fig 
and  the  pomegranate  trees,  and  altogether  pre- 
sents a  pleasing  and  thrifty  appearance. 

Here  it  was,  more  than  eighteen  centuries 
ago,  that  the  angel  Gabriel  came,  when  sent 
from   God,   "  to   a  virgin    espoused   to    a    man 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  43 

whose  name  was  Joseph  of  the  house  of  Da- 
vid," to  tell  this  "  handmaid  of  the  Lord,"  "  Fear 
not,  Mary,  for  thou  hast  found  favor  with  God, 
and  behold  thou  shalt  conceive  in  thy  womb  and 
bring  forth  a  son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name 
Jesus." 

Here  it  was,  when  Joseph  "was  minded  to 
put  her  away  privily"  because  "she  was  found 
with  child  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  that  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  appeared  unto  him  in  a  dream,  saying, 
"Joseph,  thou  son  of  David,  fear  not  to  take 
unto  thee  Mary  thy  Vv^fe,  for  that  which  is  con- 
ceived in  her  is  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  Llere  it 
was  that  Joseph  and  Mary  were  united  in  mar- 
riage by  the  striking  forms  of  the  Hebrew  ritual 
after  this  visit  of  the  angel,  having  previously 
and  before  the  annunciation  of  Gabriel  been  pub- 
licly betrothed  to  each  other,  and  from  that  be- 
trothal were  in  law,  though  not  in  fact,  regarded 
as  "  man  and  wife." 

Here  it  was,  after  the  birth  of  Christ  and 
their  temporary  flight  into  Egypt  to  avoid  the 
cruelty  of  Herod,  and  the  fear  created  in  their 
minds  by  the  reign  of  his  son  Archelaus,  that 
the  humble  couple  and  the  child  Jesus  took  up 
their  abode  in  peace  and  seclusion. 


44  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Here  it  was  that  Joseph  toiled  in  daily  labor 
at  the  trade  of  a  village  carpenter,  and  Mary, 
watching  the  growth  of  the  infant  Saviour,  pon- 
dering all  these  thinors  in  her  heart,  did  the  dii- 
ties  of  a  housewife. 

From  this  place  it  was  that  Joseph  and  Mary 
and  Jesus,  when  the  latter  was  twelve  years  old, 
went  up  to  Jerusalem,  because  Jesus  was  now  a 
Hebrew  catechumen,  a  "child  of  the  law,"  or 
"of  the  precept,"  as  they  were  termed,  and  all 
such,  according  to  the  usages  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  were  to  be  catechised  by  the  elders  and 
scribes. 

To  this  place  the  parents  and  "  child  Jesus  " 
returned  after  this  wonderful  visit  to  Jerusalem, 
when  Jesus  was  found  "in  the  temple  sitting  in 
the  midst  of  the  doctors,  both  hearing  them  and 
asking  them  questions,"  causing  all  to  be  "as- 
tonished at  his  understanding  and  answers." 

Here  it  was,  at  a  later  period,  that,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  requirements  of  Jewish  law  which 
demanded  that  every  male  child  should  learn 
some  trade,  Jesus  learned  his  reputed  father's 
trade  and  wrought  as  a  carpenter  among  the 
townspeople  of  Nazareth.     Here  it  was  that  he 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH  45 

"grew  In  wisdom  and  In  stature,  and  In  favor 
with  God  and  man." 

Thus,  from  the  time  that  he  was  two  years  old 
until  he  reached  the  age  of  thirty,  Jesus  dwelt 
In  Nazareth,  passing  more  than  five-sixths  of 
the  time  In  which  he  tabernacled  In  the  flesh  In 
this  notedly  despised  town  of  Galilee,  for  that 
Nazareth  was  looked  down  upon  as  a  low  and 
Immoral  place  Is  evident  from  the  question 
which  that  "  Israelite  Indeed,"  Nathanael,  asked, 
when  In  reply  to  the  words  of  Philip  concerning 
Jesus  he  said,  "  Can  there  any  good  thing  come 
out  of  Nazareth  ?" 

What  In  the  history  or  character  of  the  peo- 
ple of  that  town  gave  rise  to  that  proverbial  ex- 
pression of  Nathanael  we  do  not  know.  "  By 
the  figure  which  they  make  In  the  Evangelist," 
says  Doddridge,  "  they  seem  to  have  deserved 
it ;"  and  Is  It  not  another  Instance  of  the  volun- 
tary humility  of  our  Lord  that  Instead  of  spend- 
ing his  Infancy  and  youth  and  early  manhood  In 
a  quiet,  peaceful  town,  amid  the  gentler  virtues 
of  a  rural  people,  he  tarried  In  turbulent  Galilee 
and  found  his  longest  home  among  the  rude,  ill- 
mannered,  vindictive  and  jealous  Nazarethltes  ? 

How  much   of  Interest   thus   clusters   about 


4^  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Nazareth !  and  how  much  scope  does  the  imag- 
ination find  in  picturing  out  the  childhood  and 
manhood,  the  home-hfe  and  the  town-Hfe,  the 
school  days  and  the  apprentice  days  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth !  It  has  a  period  of  twenty-eight 
years  to  "revel  in,  and  can  roam  over  all  the 
changes  and  fluctuations  of  life,  from  the  two- 
year-old  prattler  at  his  mother's  knee  to  the 
matured  man  of  thirty,  just  starting  out  on  his 
divine  mission  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
Our  visit  to  Nazareth  was  one  of  singular  inter- 
est. We  entered  it  from  the  south,  and  skirting 
the  edge  of  the  town,  rode  on  to  its  end,  where, 
under  the  shade  of  a  crrove  of  olive  trees  and 
close  to  a  beautiful  spring,  we  pitched  our  tents 
and  found  refreshment  after  the  hot  and  weary 
ride  across  the  plain  of  Esdraelon.  This  foun- 
tain is  the  most  voluminous  in  the  town,  .and 
from  it  the  women  take  most  of  the  water  that 
is  drunk  in  it.  It  is  called  "The  fountain  of  the 
virgin,"  not  only,  and  with  great  probability,  be- 
cause the  mother  of  Jesus  often,  like  most  of 
the  maidens  of  Nazareth,  resorted  thither  to 
draw  water  and  bear  it  away  in  water-jars  on 
their  heads  or  shoulders,  as  w^e  saw  hundreds 
doing,  but  especially  because,  according  to  the 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  4/ 

traditions  of  the  Greek  Church,  it  was  while 
Mary  was  at  this  spring  that  the  angel  Gabriel 
met  her  and  announced  that  she  should  be  the 
mother  of  the  Messiah.  Accordingly,  to  com- 
memorate this  supposed  event,  the  Greek  Church 
has  built  near  by  the  "  Convent  of  the  Annun- 
ciation." The  Latin  Church,  on  the  other  hand, 
says  that  the  "annunciation"  took  place,  not  at 
the  spring,  but  in  the  house  of  Mary,  and  points 
to  the  grottoes  or  chambers  in  the  Franciscan 
church  of  the  chapel  of  the  Annunciation  as 
part  of  her  dwelling.  The  droning  monks  pre- 
tend to  show  you  the  window  through  which  the 
anofel  Gabriel  flew,  and  the  column  which  the 
empress  Helena  placed  to  mark  the  spot  where 
Mary  stood  or  knelt  at  the  time  of  the  angelic 
visit. 

Nothing  could  more  surely  destroy  the  truth- 
fulness of  the  monks'  story  than  the  fact  as- 
serted by  Romish  writers ;  that  about  the  thir- 
teenth century  a  band  of  angels  took  up  bodily 
the  house  of  Mary  in  Nazareth,  then  threatened 
with  desecration,  and  bearing  it  through  the  air 
across  the  Mediterranean  and  up  the  Adriatic 
gulf,  set  it  down  first  at  Rimini  and  then  on  a 
hill  called  Loretto.     There  the  so-called  ''Casa 


48  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Santa!'  "the  House  of  Our  Lady  of  Loretto," 
now  stands,  an  object  of  deepest  veneration  and 
superstition  to  the  devout  of  the  Romish  Church. 
The  walls  of  this  house  of  "Our  Lady"  are  ex- 
ternally covered  with  marble,  a  gorgeous  tem- 
ple has  been  built  up  over  it,  a  hundred  priests 
minister    in    it,    a   hundred    and    twenty-three 
masses  are  dally  said  in  its  precincts.     Jewels 
and  vessels   of  gold  and  silver,  and  gorgeous 
tapestry,  and  services  of  various  kinds,  enrich 
the  shrine,  and  the  pavement  around  the  house 
is  literally  worn  with  the  knees  of  peasants  and 
priests  and  prelates  and  princes,  as  they  for  cen- 
turies have  crawled  devoutly  around  it.     Here 
also,  in  this  marble-encased  cabin.  Is  shown  the 
window    through    which    Gabriel    came  —  here 
also  the  spot  where  the  Virgin  heard  the  angelic 
"Ave  Maria;"  and  as  if  this  did  not  sufficiently 
tax  the  credulity  of  the  faithful,  you  are  also 
shown,   in   this    same  "  Casa  Santa,"  the  altar 
where  St.  Peter  first  said  mass  after  our  Lord's 
ascension,  when  the  apostles  met  at  Nazareth, 
and  turned  this  house  into  a  church. 

Leaving  the  Church  which  fosters  these  su- 
perstitions  to  reconcile  their  discrepancies,  we 
turn   away  from   these   lying   wonders   to  the 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  49 

lovely  valley  which  stretches  away  to  the  east 
and  south  of  the  town,  to  the  numerous  hills 
which  environ  it  like  a  o^irdle,  to  the  babblino- 
stream  which  marks  its  way  by  its  green  bor- 
ders through  the  edge  of  the  town,  and  picture 
before  us,  as  far  as  imagination  permits,  the 
childhood,  boyhood  and  early  manhood  of  Jesus 
as  they  were  here  displayed  to  the  rustic  Naza- 
rethites. 

It  was  most  thrilling  to  be  there.  Du  Saulcy 
says  that  '*  he  wept  as  he  stood  in  the  chapel  of 
the  Annunciation,"  and  other  travelers  have  re- 
corded their  deep  emotions  as  they  heard  therein 
the  pealing  organ  and  the  solemn  chants  of  the 
priests.  These  constitute  no  attraction  for  the 
true  Christian,  but  they  are  moved,  moved  to 
tears  and  prayers,  as  they  walk  up  and  down 
those  hills,  over  those  plains,  down  by  the  foun- 
tain and  across  the  fields,  studded  with  clumps 
of  olive  and  fig  trees,  and  tesselated  with  the 
flowers  of  God's  arranging,  because  every  spot 
seems  full  of  the  memories  of  Jesus.  How 
often  had  he  walked  over  these  fields !  how 
often  followed  his  mother  to  the  fountain  !  how 
often  climbed  those  hills !  how  often  gone  up 
there  for  retirement  and  prayer !  how  often,  as 

6  -  D 


50  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

he  stood  upon  their  tops,  had  he  looked  north- 
ward to  the  snow-crowned  head  of  Hermon, 
eastward  to  the  rounded  top  of  Tabor,  south- 
ward across  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  to  the 
mountains  of  Gilboa  and  Benjamin,  and  west- 
ward to  the  promontory  of  Carmel,  where  Elijah 
slew  the  prophets  of  Baal,  as  it  jutted  out  into 
the  great  sea ! 

The  twenty-eight  years'  life  of  Jesus  in  this 
spot  have  consecrated  the  town  and  its  sur- 
roundings and  made  it  hallowed  ground. 

Yet  the  whole  authentic  record  of  these  years 
is  contained  in  the  verses  (Luke  ii.  40)  :  "And 
the  child  grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled 
with  wisdom,  and  the  grace  of  God  was  upon 
him ;"  and  after  his  return  from  Jerusalem, 
whither  at  twelve  years  of  age  he  had  gone  to 
the  feast  of  the  Passover,  it  is  said  (Luke  ii.  51, 
52),  "And  he  went  down  with  them  and  came 
to  Nazareth,  and  was  subject  unto  them,  and 
Jesus  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in 
favor  with  God  and  man."  This  is  all  the  record 
that  we  have  of  his  long  residence  in  Nazareth. 

Marvelous  silence  !  The  prying  curiosity  of 
men  would  fain  know  how  our  Lord  looked  as 
a  babe,  how  he  played  as  a  boy,  how  he  mingled 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH  5  I 

with  his  companions,  how  he  wrought  as  a  car- 
penter, how  he  behaved  as  a  young  m^n  In  so- 
ciety, how  the  people  of  Nazareth  regarded 
him,  with  a  hundred  other  questions  about  mat- 
ters where  the  Bible  is  silent. 

What  should  we  say  of  human  biographers 
who  should  thus  skip  over  four- fifths  of  the  lives 
of  the  subjects  of  their  writings,  who  should  tell 
us  nothing  of  the  childhood,  the  appearance,  the 
habits  of  person  or  of  mind,  the  education  and 
associations,  of  the  one  whose  life  they  were 
portraying?  It  would  be  strange  and  unsatis- 
factory. But  this  silence  of  the  Scripture  In 
reference  to  our  Lord  Is  deeply  instructive,  and 
even  with  our  finite  minds  we  can  see  its  wis- 
dom. We  desire  to  know  the  Infancy  and  child- 
hood of  earthly  heroes,  in  order  that  we  may 
mark  the  causes,  and  trace  the  development,  of 
those  traits  of  mind  and  heart  for  which  they 
afterward  became  renowned,  and  thus  observe 
the  mental  and  moral  processes  by  which  their 
character  was  built  up  and  compacted  into  his- 
toric greatness.  But  our  Lord  was  beholden  to 
no  such  parental  or  domestic  training,  to  no 
such  social  or  educational  Influences  ;  and  hence 
there  was  no  necessity  to  tell  the  occurrences 


52  7'HE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

of  his  early  life  as  the  clew  or  key  to  his  subse- 
quent history,  for  it  was  not  moulded  by  earthly 
surroundings,  nor  did  human  teachers  give 
shape  and  direction  to  his  mental  or  moral 
powers.  His  childhood  ever  blossomed  with 
the  beauty  of  holiness,  his  boyhood  was  ever 
fragrant  with  the  expanding  flowers  of  grace, 
and  his  manhood  brought  forth  day  by  day  the 
ripened  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  for  it  is  emphatically 
said,  "The  child  grew  and  waxed  strong  in 
spirit,  filled  with  wisdom,  and  the  grace  of  God 
was  upon  him." 

There  Is  also  somethlnof  sublime  in  this  silence 
of  Scripture,  for  instead  of  leading  off  our 
thoughts  to  the  early  life  of  Jesus,  and  thus  dif- 
fusing our  Interest  over  all  the  years  that  he 
tabernacled  in  the  flesh,  the  Holy  Ghost  now 
concentrates  all  our  looks  and  feelings  on  the 
one  work  which  it  was  the  one  object  of  his  life 
to  accomplish.  He  thus  rebukes  a  prurient  cu- 
riosity, and  rejects  as  useless  what  Is  not  Imme- 
diately connected  with  redemption.  The  sacred 
writers  are  here  dealing  with  the  most  marvel- 
ous deeds  and  the  most  astounding  works  of 
grace,  and  they  cannot  stop  to  tell  the  doings 
of  years  which  had  no  immediate  relation  to  his 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  53 

work  as  Prophet,  Priest  and  King;  of  years 
which  were  but  the  temporal  Hnks  which  con- 
nected the  cross  of  Calvary  with  the  manger  of 
Bethlehem,  and  the  virgin-born  Son  of  Mary 
with  the  risen  and  ascended  Lord  of  glory. 

As  we  contemplate  this  reticence  of  Scripture, 
how  forcibly  are  we  impressed  with  the  sublime 
truth,  "  It  is  the  glory  of  God  to  conceal  a  thing  "  ! 
Infinite  wisdom,  checking  the  else  rampant  im- 
agination of  man,  has  made  a  biographical  blank 
where  men  would  have  written  minute  histories, 
but  we  know  that  the  blank  will  be  filled  up  by 
and  by,  and  we  must  be  content  to  wait  until  we 
see  Jesus  in  heaven  and  *'  follow  him  whither- 
soever he  goeth"  to  learn  the  real  history  of 

his  abode  at  Nazareth. 
5  * 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH 

(Continued.) 


E  said  that  we  had  no  records  of  our 
Lord's  doings  at  Nazareth  until  he 
appears  on  this  Sabbath  in  the  syna- 
gogue. This  is  true  as  to  positive  records,  yet 
we  have  in  the  passage  which  describes  this 
Sabbath  four  words — ''as  his  custom  was" — 
which  give  us  some  insight  into  his  previous 
character,  and  by  inference  at  least  tells  us  what 
his  Sabbath  habits  were.  The  whole  sentence 
reads,  "And  as  his  custom  was,  he  went  into  the 
synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day  and  stood  up  for 
to  read."  That  word,  "custom,"  carries  us  away 
back  to  his  childhood.  We  see  him  as  a  child, 
led  by  his  mother's  hand,  walking  to  the  syna- 
gogue week  after  week,  taking  his  place  as  a 
child,  or  as  a  catechumen,  with  the  other  "  chil- 

5i 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  55 

dren  of  the  precept,"  reverently  listening  to  the 
reading  of  the  law  and  the  prophets. 

We  see  him,  as  he  arrives  at  man's  estate, 
still  going  every  seventh  day  to  the  same  syna- 
gogue and  taking  his  part  in  its  simple  services. 
This  he  doubtless  did  always. 

He  did  not  plead  as  a  reason  why  he  should 
remain  away,  that  that  worship  had  become  cor- 
rupt— that  they  had  made  the  word  of  God  "  of 
none  effect  through  their  traditions,"  their  glosses 
and  their  false  Interpretations. 

Nor  did  he.  In  the  conscious  holiness  of  his 
own  soul,  feeling  that  he  needed  not  this  human 
instrumentality  for  his  own  perfection,  neglect 
It,  and  thus  throw  the  force  of  his  example 
against  it,  by  forsaking  the  assembling  of  him- 
self with  others  on  that  sacred  day.  This  ha- 
bitual attendance  of  our  Lord  on  divine  worship 
is  a  guide  and  model  to  us ;  for  if  the  holy  Jesus 
could  tolerate  all  the  imperfections  of  synagogue 
worship  In  the  degenerate  days  in  which  he 
lived,  conducted  by  the  scribes  and  Pharisees, 
who  w^ere  so  polluted  and  hypocritical  as  they 
were  in  his  day,  then  surely  ought  we  to  gather 
ourselves  within  the  courts  of  the  Lord's  house, 
and  not  stay  away  because  of  personal  antipa- 


56  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

thies  to  minister  or  people,  hypercritical  objec- 
tions to  pulpit  teaching,  hypocritical  assumptions 
of  religious  superiority,  or  alleged  defects,  or 
excesses,  in  the  mode  of  worship. 

As  we  shall  often  have  occasion  to  speak  of 
the  synagogues,  it  may  be  well  here  to  give  a 
general  description  of  them,  in  order  the  better 
to  understand  the  allusions  which  will  be  so  fre- 
quently made. 

''Synagogue"  is  a  Greek  word  employed  in 
the  Septuagint  as  the  translation  of  twenty-one 
Hebrew  words  in  which  the  idea  of  a  gathering 
is  implied,  and  means  literally,  a  meeting-house. 

Though  many  Jewish  writers  claim  for  the 
Synagogue  a  very  remote  antiquity,  yet  its  real 
origin  does  not  date,  probably,  earlier  than  the 
days  of  Ezra  after  the  return  of  the  Jews  from 
Babylonish  exile.  Then  we  have  distinct  traces 
of  what  has  been  called  "  the  synagogue  paro- 
chial system,"  both  among  the  Jews  in  Palestine 
and  in  other  countries.  Accordinor  to  the  Tal- 
mudists,  wherever  ten  families  lived,  there  a 
Synagogue  was  to  be  erected,  though  generally 
but  one  was  built  in  each  town.  Their  structure 
was  simple,  and  varied  with  the  tastes  and 
wealth  of  the  congregation.     Usually  they  were 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  5/ 

erected  on  the  hiorhest  ground  in  or  near  the 
city,  and  were  so  arranged  that  as  the  worship- 
er entered  and  bowed,  his  face  was  ''  toward 
Jerusalem,"  where  was  the  one  only  temple  and 
the  one  only  sacrifice.  In  the  prayer  of  conse- 
cration offered  by  King  Solomon  on  the  occasion 
of  dedicating  the  Temple  which  he  had  built  to 
the  worship  of  almighty  God,  he  again  and 
again  speaks  of  ''praying  toward  this  house," 
of  spreading  forth  his  hands  ''  toward  this 
house,"  of  pi*aying  "  toward  this  place,  the  city 
which  thou  hast  chosen  and  the  house  which  I 
have  built  for  thy  name,"  and  thus  indicates  the 
posture  and  direction  which  the  Israelite  would 
take,  in  whatsoever  land  he  abode,  when  he 
sought  to  worship  the  God  of  his  fathers.  The 
internal  construction  of  the  Svnao^oQ^ue  was 
symbolical  of  the  temple.  At  the  upper  or 
Jerusalem  end,  stood  the  ark,  the  chest  which, 
like  the  older  and  more  sacred  ark,  contained 
the  book  of  the  law.  It  gave  to  that  end  the 
name  and  character  of  a  sanctuary.  This  part 
of  the  Synagogue  was  naturally  the  place  of 
honor.  Here  were  the  "  chief  seats,"  for  which 
Pharisees  and  scribes  strove  so  eagerly,  and  to 
which  the  wealthy  and  honored  worshiper  was 


SS  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

invited.  Here  too,  in  front  of  the  ark,  still  re- 
producing the  type  of  the  tabernacle,  was  the 
eight-branched  lamp  lighted  only  on  the  greater 
festivals.  Beside  these  there  was  one  lamp 
kept  burning  perpetually.  A  little  farther  to- 
ward the  middle  of  the  building  was  a  raised 
platform  on  which  several  persons  could  stand 
at  once,  and  in  the  middle  of  this  rose  a  pulpit 
in  which  the  reader  stood  to  read  the  lesson  or 
sat  down  to  teach.  The  congregation  was  di- 
vided, the  men  on  one  side,  the  women  on  the 
other,  a  low  partition  five  or  six  feet  high  run- 
ning between  them.  The  arrangement  of  mod- 
ern synagogues,  for  many  centuries,  has  made 
the  separation  more  complete  by  placing  the 
women  in  low  side  galleries  screened  off  by  lat- 
tice-work. 

.  The  officers  of  the  Synagogue  were,  first,  the 
•'ruler"  or  chief  of  the  Synagogue,  who  exer- 
cised rectorial  care  over  the  building  and  the 
people,  then  the  "  elders,"  or  heads  of  the  Syna- 
gogue, then  the  "reader,"  or  legate,  who  blended 
the  office  of  a  reader,  secretary  and  messenger, 
then  the  "minister,"  or  attendant,  who  opened 
the  doors,  prepared  the  place  for  service,  took 
the  sacred  rolls  from  the  ark  and  o^ave  them  to 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  59 

the  reader,  and  receiving  them  again,  replaced 
them  in  their  sanctuary.  The  worship  of  the 
synagogue  was  made  up  of  fixed  forms  of 
prayer  (each  chief  ruler  being  authorized  to 
make  such  for  his  own  synagogue),  the  reading 
of  the  law  and  the  prophets  in  such  consecutive 
order  as  that  the  whole  should-^be  read  through 
In  a  cycle  of  three  years,  and  in  an  exposition 
by  some  one  of  the  worshipers  of  the  portion 
of  Scripture  previously  read. 

The  Hebrew  Church  divided  the  "lav/,"  or 
Pentateuch,  into  fifty- four  sections  (parashahs), 
or  proper  lessons,  which  were  read  in  the  syna- 
eoo^ues  on  the  Sabbath.  To  these  were  added 
proper  lessons  (haphtarahs)  taken  out  of  the 
prophets,  and  they  were  coupled  together  in  a 
calendar  directing  when  they  were  to  be  read. 

Thus  the  first  section  (parashah)  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch began  with  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
and  extended  to  the  eio^hth  verse  of  the  sixth 
chapter,  "  But  Noah  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord."  The  corresponding  prophetical  les- 
son (haphtarah)  is  taken  from  Isaiah  xlli.  5-21, 
and  we  note  at  once  the  parallelism  between 
them,  as  both  refer  to  the  work  of  creation. 
This  is  somethlnor  in^e  the  first  and  second  les- 


60  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

sons  in  the  calendar  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  only  In  this  Church  the  second  lesson  is 
taken  out  of  the  New  Testament,  so  as  to  make 
the  two  testaments  or  covenants,  the  Mosaic 
and  the  Christian,  reflect  light  on  each  other,  for 
there  is  no  interpreter  of  Scripture  so  good 
and  so  exact  as  Scripture  itself,  whereby  we 
may  compare  "  spiritual  things  with  spiritual." 

Several  features  of  the  Christian  Church  have 
been  evidently  borrowed  from  the  forms  of  the 
Synagogue.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
when  we  consider  that  the  apostles  were  edu- 
cated in  the  usages  of  the  Synagogue,  and  that  it 
was  by  means  of  the  synagogues  planted  by  the 
Jewish  colonies  in  various  parts  of  the  world 
that  the  gospel  was  introduced  to  the  Hebrew 
and  the  Gentile  nations,  for  Into  whatever  coun- 
try the  apostles  went,  they  usually  found  there  a 
synagogue,  and  thither  they  resorted,  and  in  it 
first  preached  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Thus  God  had  providentially  prepared  these 
reading  and  preaching  places,  these  depositories 
of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  these  houses  of 
Sabbatical  worship  and  assembling,  as  so  many 
foci  In  which  to  gather  the  religious  elements  of 
the  age,  and  from  which  to  shed  forth  the  glo- 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  6 1 

rious  light  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  "of 
whom  Moses  in  the  law  and  the  prophets  did 
write." 

In  addition  to  religious  uses,  the  synagogue 
was  also  the  common  school  of  the  village, 
where  the  children  were  taught  by  the  Rabbi 
the  elements  of  education,  and  who  especially 
grounded  them  in  the  knowledge  of  the  law 
and  the  more  noted  traditions  of  the  elders.  It 
was  doubtless  in  one  of  these  synagogue  schools 
that  our  Lord  learned  the  rudiments  of  Jewish 
learning. 

Another  function  which  the  Synagogue  ful- 
filled was  that  of  a  court  of  justice.  It  was  the 
town  court.  Its  rulers  were  as  justices  of  the 
peace.  Trials  of  minor  cases  were  held  there, 
and  the  adjudged  punishment  of  scourging  was 
often  administered  there,  and  our  Lord  distinctly 
warns  his  disciples  that  among  other  ill  treat- 
ment "  they  will  scourge  you  In  their  syna- 
o^OQfues." 

Thus  learning,  law,  religion,  clustered  around 
the  Synagogue  and  made  it  the  centre  of  the 
most  potent  influences  that  can  mould  a  com- 
munity. 

There  was  generally  a  desk  on  which  the  rolls 


62  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

of  parchment  were  placed,  so  that,  as  one  side 
of  the  sacred  Scriptures  was  unrolled,  the  other 
side  could  be  conveniently  rolled  up,  for  the 
books  of  that  day  were  not  made  Into  leaves 
like  ours,  but  were  mostly  of  skins  rolled  into 
convenient  size  and  labeled  on  the  outside  and 
secured  by  a  leathern  clasp  or  thong.  In  read- 
ing these  rolls  of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  the 
reader  always  "  stood  up,"  imitating  the  position 
of  Ezra  in  his  "pulpit  of  wood"  in  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem,  and  the  practice  of  the  Jewish  as- 
semblies from  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple. 
Some  have  thought  that  the  phrase,  "As  his 
custom  was,"  refers  not  to  his  habit  of  going 
every  Sabbath  to  the  Synagogue,  but  to  the 
being  frequently  called  upon  to  read  out  of  the 
holy  rolls.  It  may  be  so,  for  sometimes  the 
reader  was  one  of  the  assembly  who  was  neither 
an  office-bearer, -or  a  scribe  or  Pharisee,  and 
sometimes,  also,  the  expounder  of  the  law  was 
even  a  stranger,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Synagogue 
at  Antioch,  where,  after  the  reading  of  the  pro- 
phets, St.  Luke  says,  "The  rulers  of  the  Syna- 
gogue sent  unto  Paul  and  his  companions,  say- 
ing, Ye  men  and  brethren,  if  ye  have  any  word 
of  exhortation  for  the  people,  say  on." 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  63 

Being  a  general  favorite  with  the  people  (for 
it  is  said  that  *'  he  grew  in  favor  with  God  and 
man"),  and  perhaps  from  his  ability  to  read  the 
Scriptures  with  more  truthfulness  of  expression 
because  he  knew,  as  they  did  not,  the  deep 
meaning  of  each  word  and  sentence,  Jesus  was 
probably  often  called  upon  to  **  stand  up  for  to 
read."  Little  did  that  simple  folk  imagine  who 
it  was  that  read  to  them  such  weighty  words. 
They  saw  in  him  only  a  good  young  man  of 
spotless  life  and  devout  habits,  a  well-beloved 
citizen  and  industrious  mechanic ;  in  fine,  an 
Israelite  in  whom  there  was  no  guile.  They 
did  not  know  that  there  was  standinof  in  their 
midst  the  Seed  of  the  woman  who  was  "to  bruise 
the  serpent's  head,"  the  ''Prophet  greater  than 
Moses,"  the  ''Messiah''  of  whom  David  so  roy- 
ally sung,  the  "Prince  of  peace''  of  whom  Isaiah 
prophesied,  the  "Son  of  man"  seen  in  the  vis- 
Ions  of  the  holy  Daniel,  the  "Lord"  who,  accord- 
ing to  Malachi,  was  so  suddenly  to  come  to  his 
temple.  The  veil  was  upon  their  eyes  and  upon 
their  hearts ;  their  mental  vision  was  as  yet  not 
prepared  for  such  an  outburst  of  glory ;  but  the 
long  looked-for  "day-star"  was  now  to  arise, 
and  the  ears  of  that  Sabbath  assembly  were  to 


64  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

be  startled  that  morning  by  an  announcement 
that  would  fill  them  with  excitement  and  wonder, 
for  as  "  he  stood  up  for  to  read,"  "  there  was  de- 
livered unto  him  (by  the  one  whose  office  it  was 
to  fetch  and  carry  back  the  rolls  from  the  sanc- 
tuary) the  book  (or  roll)  of  the  prophet  Esaias 
(Isaiah),  and  when  he  had  opened  the  book  he 
found  the  place  where  it  was  written — Isaiah 
Ixl.  I. —  'The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  be- 
cause he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives 
and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at 
liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  ac- 
ceptable year  of  the  Lord.'  And  he  closed 
the  book  and  gave  it  again  unto  the  minister 
and  sat  down,  and  the  eyes  of  all  them  that  were 
in  the  Synagogue  were  fastened  on  him,  and  he 
began  to  say  unto  them,  This  day  is  this  scrip- 
ture fulfilled  in  your  ears."  A  murmur  of  sur- 
prise rises  from  the  assembly  and  glances  of 
wonder  pass  from  eye  to  eye  at  this  bold  decla- 
ration, but  soon  they  hush  themselves  into  si- 
lence that  they  may  listen  more  attentively  to 
the  Carpenter  who  now  for  the  first  time  preaches 
in  their  Synagogue. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH. 

(Continued.) 


ET  us  In  imao^ination  seat  ourselves  In 
the  Synagogue  of  Nazareth  and  listen 
to  *' the  gracious  words"  which  pro- 
ceed out  of  the  mouth  of  Jesus. 

It  Is  all  the  more  Interesting  because  It  Is  the 
record  of  the  only  time  our  Lord  read  In  the 
synagogue,  and  also  of  the  first  sermon  which 
he  preached ;  because  by  taking  his  text  from 
Isaiah  he  endorsed  the  Inspiration  of  that  evan- 
gelical prophet ;  and  especially  because  In  this 
his  first  discourse  among  his  neighbors  and 
kinsfolk,  ".where  he  had  been  brought  up,"  he 
expounds  the  character  of  the  Messiah,  and  the 
nature  of  the  klno^dom  which  he  was  anointed 
to  establish. 

On  comparing  the  words  of  St.  Luke  with 

6  *  E  65 


66  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

those  of  Isaiah  we  find  some  sho^ht  verbal  differ- 
ences,  owing,  doubtless,  to  the  fact  that,  w^hlle 
our  Lord  read  from  and  expounded  the  pure 
Hebrew  words  as  written  by  Isaiah,  St.  Luke, 
who  wrote  his  gospel  for  the  Hellenist  Jews, 
quotes  from  the  Septuagint  version  of  that 
prophet,  as  one  with  which  they  were  more 
familiar.  The  differences,  however,  are  only 
verbal,  and  of  no  exegetlcal  value.  The  grand 
thouQ^ht  Is  the  same,  and  it  is  with  the  thouofht 
itself,  rather  than  with  its  drapery  of  words,  that 
we  have  now  to  do. 

Of  what  our  Lord  said  upon  this  passage  of 
Isaiah  we  have  but  one  sentence  preserved,  viz.  : 
"This  day  Is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in  your 
ears."  In  what  manner  he  applied  this  prophecy 
to  himself,  and  how  he  unfolded  Its  Inner  mean- 
ing, w^e  know  not.  That  It  was  done  with  an 
unction  and  earnestness  which  they  had  never 
before  seen  Is  evident  from  the  statement  of  St. 
Luke  that  all  "  wondered  at  the  gracious  words 
which  proceeded  out  of  his  lips."  As  their  fel- 
low-townsman opened  to  them  this  Scripture, 
fitting  to  his  own  person  and  office  the  several 
parts  of  this  prophecy,  bringing  out  of  the 
sacred  text  a  hidden  meaning  which  their  wisest 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  6/ 

scribes  had  never  tauorht,  and  makinof  clear  as 
the  sunlight  what  had  so  long  been  obscured  by 
mists  of  traditions  received  from  their  fathers, 
the  people,  we  can  imagine,  5at  in  mute  aston- 
ishment and  awe.  They  gave  him  their  undi- 
vided attention ;  they  let  not  a  word  fall  to  the 
ground,  but  recognized  to  a  certain  extent  their 
grace  and  jDOwer. 

To  understand  this  the  better,  let  us  see  what 
this  prophecy  required  for  its  fulfillment,  and 
then  ascertain  whether  He  who  then  spake  met 
these  conditions. 

This  prophecy  of  Isaiah  was  regarded  by  all 
the  Jews  as  referring  to  the  advent  of  the  Mes- 
siah. It  demanded,  first,  that  the  person  fulfill- 
ing it  should  be  the  Messiah  or  anointed  one, 
for  the  words,  "  Messiah  "  in  Hebrew, ''  Christos  " 
in  Greek,  are  equivalent  to  the  English,  Christ 
or  anointed.  Anointinof  was  one  of  the  solemn 
forms  of  setting  apart  prophets,  priests  and 
kinofs.  But  the  anointed  one  of  the  text  was  to 
be  set  apart,  not  with  material  oil,  as  were  Elisha 
and  Aaron  and  David,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  God — i.  e.,  by  the  outpouring  or  descent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  was  not  Jesus  thus  an- 
ointed when  the  Holy  Ghost  like  a  dove  lighted 


6S  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Upon  him  at  his  baptism  in  Jordan  ?  It  required, 
secondly,  that  this  "anointed  one"  should  be  a 
Prophet  preaching  glad  tidings,  preaching  the 
gospel,  preaching  "  the  acceptable  year  of  the 
Lord."  Did  not  Jesus  go  up  and  down  Judea 
preaching  the  word,  and  so  speaking  that  not 
only  did  he  draw  multitudes  to  his  discourses, 
but  the  very  soldiers  who  were  sent  to  appre- 
hend him  returned,  saying,  "  Never  man  spake 
like  this  man"?  He  was,  of  a  truth,  "that 
Prophet"  greater  than  Moses  which  the  Lord 
God  was  to  raise  up  to  his  people  Israel. 

It  required,  thirdly,  that  this  "anointed  one" 
should  be  able  to  stay  the  effect  of  sin  In  what- 
soever form  that  sin  manifested  itself.  Thus,  as 
the  prophecy  intimated,  he  was  to  "heal,"  or 
"  bind  up,"  the  broken-hearted,  those  whom  sin 
had  crushed  and  made  sad  and  trampled  under 
foot.  He  was  to  preach  "deliverance  to  the 
captives" — the  captives  of  Satan,  the  victims  of 
his  snares  and  arts.  He  w^as  "  to  give  sight  to 
the  blind,"  those  who  were  spiritually  as  well  as 
physically  blind,  and  who  could  not  see  the 
things  which  pertained  to  their  eternal  peace. 
He  was  to  "  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised" — 
bruised  under  the  yoke  and  burden  of  sin,  man- 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH  69 

acled  and  galled  by  the  fetters  of  the  pniice  of 
darkness,  whose  bond-slaves  they  were.  Did 
not  Jesus  do  all  this  both  to  the  bodies  and  the 
souls  of  men  in  the  miracles  of  mercy  which  he 
wrought,  and  in  the  effect  of  the  doctrines  which 
he  taught?  and  is  it  not  the  special  purpose  of 
his  religion  to  achieve  for  the  mind,  for  the  heart, 
for  the  bodies  of  men,  for  man  individually  and 
men  collectively,  in  families,  states,  churches, 
nations,  exactly  those  things  which  are  here  pre- 
dicted ?  Thus  he  rolls  back  the  effects  of  sin  as 
it  causes  woe  and  darkness  and  captivity  and 
oppression  and  every  evil  work. 

It  required,  fourthly,  that  this  ''anointed  one" 
should  restore  to  m.an  the  inheritance  which  he 
had  lost  in  Eden.  The  term  "  to  preach  the 
acceptable  year  of  the  Lord"  refers  to  that  joy- 
ful day  and  year  when,  according  to  the  direc- 
tions given  in  Leviticus,  at  the  close  of  each 
forty-ninth  year,  the  priests,  on  the  morning 
which  ushered  in  the  fiftieth  year,  were  to  "  blow 
the  silver  trumpets  of  the  jubilee  and  proclaim 
liberty  throughout  all  the  land  and  unto  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof" — trumpet  notes  heard  sel- 
dom more  than  once  in  a  lifetime,  but  when 
heard,  they  filled  the  heart  of  the  nation  with  an 


70  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR  LORD. 

exuberance  of  joy  that  found  its  outburst  In  all 
manner  of  festive  orladness  and  thanksorivinof. 
And  why  this  gladness  ?  Because  then,  a  year 
of  rest  was  proclaimed,  and  there  was  neither 
ploughing  nor  sowing  nor  reaping,  but  the  land 
itself  had  a  Sabbatical  year.  Because  then, 
every  Israelite  recovered  his  right  and  title  to 
the  land  originally  allotted  to  his  ancestors,  and 
the  alienated  inheritance  was  his  again  without 
purchase.  Because  then,  the  bondmen  went  out 
free  from  servitude  and  were  restored  to  their 
original  franchise,  and  thus  there  was  given 
back  to  each  Israelite  his  covenanted  right  and 
portion  in  the  land  of  promise  given  to  him  by 
Jehovah. 

This  year  of  jubilee,  occurring  after  each 
seven  weeks  of  years,  or  forty-nine  years,  was 
typical  of  the  triumph  of  the  Messiah  when  he 
would  restore  to  man  his  lost  inheritance,  when 
he  would  set  him  free  from  the  bondage  under 
which  sin  had  enslaved  him,  when  he  would  dis- 
pense to  all  "the  rest,"  the  jubilee  rest,  ''which 
remaineth  for  the  people  of  God." 

And  is  not  this  what  Christ  is  now  doing,  and 
will  still  further  do,  as  the  jubilee  sound  of  the 
gospel  trumpet   goes    out   into  all   lands    and 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  7 1 

wakes  up  notes  of  joy  and  salvation  among  all 
the  tribes  and  races  of  men  ?  The  inheritance 
which  we  lost  through  Adam  in  Eden,  He,  as 
''  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord  from  heaven,"  will 
restore  to  us  in  fuller  measure  in  the  paradise 
of  God. 

The  bondage  of  sin  under  which  we  ''groaned, 
beine  burdened,"  He  will  release  us  from  by 
breaking  the  yoke  of  the  oppressor,  and  letting 
the  oppressed  go  free. 

It  must  have  seemed  very  strange  to  the 
Nazarethites  to  hear  this  young  man,  whom 
they  had  known  in  his  obscurity  of  twenty-five 
years,  apply  this  grand  Messianic  prophecy  to 
himself.  There  must  have  arisen  in  their  minds 
a  singular  commincrlinor  of  wonder  and  incre- 
dulity,  blended  perhaps  with  fear,  lest  he  who 
had  all  along  been  the  good  and  gentle  Jesus 
had  lost  his  mental  balance  and  was  going  to  set 
up  himself  as  the  Messiah. 

To  understand  the  feelings  they  experienced, 
place  yourselves  in  their  situation.  What  would 
be  your  emotions  if  on  some  Lord's  day,  as  you 
sat  in  your  usual  seat  in  the  Lord's  house,  a 
man  of  good  repute,  yet  humble  parentage, 
whom  you  had  known   from  childhood,  whom 


72  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

you  had  seen  as  a  child,  as  a  growing  boy,  as  a 
working  apprentice,  as  a  common  mechanic, 
whose  parents  you  knew,  whose  home  you 
knew,  whom  you  had  met  in  your  daily  walks, 
and  who  for  years  had  gone  with  you  and  sat 
near  you  in  the  house  of  God,  should  suddenly, 
after  the  lessons  for  the  day  had  been  read 
which  depicted  in  glowing  language  the  office 
and  work  of  the  Messiah,  say,  ''  This  day  is  this 
scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears"?  How  such  a 
declaration  from  such  a  person  would  startle 
you  !  how  almost  indignant  it  would  make  you  ! 
how  you  would  be  tempted  to  sneer  and  ridicule 
such  claims,  or  be  overwhelmed  with  alarm  at 
such  unrebuked  blasphemy !  Like  the  men  of 
Nazareth,  you  would  say,  "  Is  not  this  the  one 
whom  we  have  known,  and  whose  parents  w^e 
know,  and  whose  occupation  we  know  ?  Why, 
then,  speaks  he  thus  ?  Can  he  expect  us  to  be- 
lieve his  words  ?  Shall  we  not  rather  adjudge 
him  to  be  insane  ?" 

If  you  will  look  at  the  scene  from  this  point 
of  view,  you  will  more  readily  comprehend  how 
marvelously  astounding  this  claim  of  Jesus  must 
have  seemed  to  his  fellow-townsmen. 

They  looked  indeed  for  a  Messiah.     It  was 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH  73 

the  one  great  hope  of  thdr  nation.  It  was  the 
burden  of  their  prophecies,  the  substance  of 
their  types,  the  foreshadowing  of  their  Levitical 
ritual,  the  theme  of  their  national  psalms,  and 
all  their  future  triumph  over  their  enemies  and 
their  exaltation  as  a  nation  centred  in  this  long 
looked-for  Messiah.  To  their  blinded  minds  he 
was  to  come  In  glory  and  reign  with  a  splendor 
surpassing  that  of  Solomon.  He  was  to  be 
surrounded  widi  all  the  insignia  of  divine  royalty. 
For  this  ''  Carpenter,"  the  reputed  son  of  a  car- 
penter, to  appropriate  to  himself  these  pro- 
phetic epithets,  and  announce  that  In  his  person 
these  scriptures  found  their  fulfillment,  was  In- 
deed too  much  to  be  borne,  and  no  wonder, 
therefore,  that  they  said,  "  Is  not  this  Joseph's 
son?" 

Perceiving  their  unbelief  and  knowlnor  what 
was  In  their  hearts,  Jesus  said  unto  them,  "Ye 
will  surely  say  unto  me  this  proverb,  Physician, 
heal  thyself.  Whatsoever  we  have  heard  done 
in  Capernaum  do  also  here  In  thy  country." 
Though  these  were  the  words  of  Christ,  yet  he 
spoke  them  as  being  the  sentiments  of  his  hear- 
ers, whose  thoughts  he  knew  and  expressed. 
It  was  as  if  they  had  said,  ''  We  have  heard  that 


74  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

you  have  done  great  works  In  Capernaum :  do 
them  here  also,  that  we  may  see  and  judge  for 
ourselves,  and  not  have  only  the  hearsay  evi- 
dence of  public  rumor."  It  was  an  Implied  cen- 
sure on  him  for  working  miracles  In  that  almost 
Gentile  town  before  he  wrought  any  in  Naza- 
reth. 

To  these  murmuring  thoughts,  and  perhaps 
expressions,  Jesus  replied,  "  No  prophet  is  ac- 
cepted In  his  own  country,"  or,  as  St.  Mark 
records  It,  ''A  prophet  Is  not  without  honor  but 
In  his  own  country  and  among  his  own  kin  and 
in  his  own  house." 

This  proverbial  expression  finds  Its  truth  in 
that  deep-rooted  principle  of  human  nature  not 
to  give  full  credit  to  that,  with  the  gradual 
erowth  and  unfoldlno^  of  which  we  are  familiar, 
and  to  prefer  the  foreign  and  the  unknown,  over 
that  which  oriorinates  out  of  ourselves  and  is 
home-born.  Minute  knowledge  of  a  man's  cha- 
racter, and  of  a  man's  surroundings,  tends,  in 
the  minds  of  those  thus  familiar,  to  detract  from 
his  ereatness.     It  is  so  much  easier  for  the  hu- 

o 

man  mind  to  detect  flaws,  than  perceive  great- 
ness, so  much  more  ready  to  note  the  evil  than 
the  crood  of  our  fellow-men,  so  much  more  In- 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH  75 

dined  to  cavil  than  to  praise,  that  we  see  every 
day  the  truth  of  the  proverb  and  how  pecuHarly 
fitted  it  was  to  express  just  the  position  in  which 
our  Lord,  as  a  Prophet,  stood  to  the  querulous 
and  unbelievinor  Nazarethites. 

o 

"  But  I  tell  you  of  a  truth,"  he  continues, 
**many  widows  were  in  Israel  in  the  days  of 
Ellas,  when  the  heaven  was  shut  up  three  years 
and  six  months,  when  great  famine  was  through- 
out all  the  land,  but  unto  none  of  them  was 
Ellas  sent  save  unto  Sarepta,  a  city  of  Sidon, 
unto  a  woman  that  was  a  widow.  And  many 
lepers  were  in  Israel  in  the  time  of  Eliseus  the 
prophet,  and  none  of  them  was  cleansed  saving 
Naaman  the  Syrian."  These  instances  are 
quoted  by  our  Lord  In  order  to  prove  that  they 
who  are  nearest  to  the  means  of  grace  and  op- 
portunities of  conviction  are  often  least  inclined 
to  profit  by  them,  on  which  account  they  are 
justly  granted  to  others  of  a  more  humble  and 
teachable  disposition. 

It  seems,  however,  greatly  to  have  galled  the 
people,  not  only  that  our  Lord  wrought  mira- 
cles in  Capernaum  before  he  did  In  Nazareth, 
but  that  he  should  defend  his  course  of  conduct 
by   two    such    anti-Jewish    examples    of   God's 


J^i  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

dealing  with  men,  whereby  a  Zidonian  woman 
and  a  Syrian  nobleman — Gentiles — received  di- 
vine favors  denied  to  the  lepers  of  Judah  or  the 
famine-stricken  of  Israel. 

They  had  implied  in  their  talk  with  him, 
"Whatsoever  we  have  heard  done  in  Caper- 
naum do  also  here  in  thy  country.  You  wrought 
miracles  there,  why  not  here  ?"  His  replying 
in  the  way  he  did  was  virtually  saying  to  them, 
"You  are  unworthy  of  It,  as  Israel  of  old  was 
unworthy  of  the  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha,  who 
therefore  were   sent  to  work  miracles  amono- 

o 

the  Gentiles.  Elijah  was  sent  to  a  heathen 
woman,  and  a  heathen  man  was  sent  to  Elisha." 
Thus,  not  only  was  their  national  pride  rebuked, 
but  they  learned,  from  these  instances  of  bless- 
ings given  by  some  of  their  greatest  prophets 
to  persons  outside  the  pale  of  Israel,  the  lesson 
that  the  Gentiles  w^ere  to  be  called  in  to  partici- 
pate in  the  covenant  blessing  of  the  God  of 
Abraham. 

The  people  were  quick  to  see  and  to  apply 
these  striking  words  and  facts,  and  "all  they 
in  the  synagogue,  when  they  heard  these  things, 
were  filled  with  wrath,  and  rose  up  and  thrust 
him  out  of  the  city,  and  led  him  unto  the  brow 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  J  J 

of  the  hill  whereon  their  city  was  built,  that 
they  might  cast  him  down  headlong."  What  a 
sudden  chancre !  Behold  the  excited  throne ! 
The  solemn  services  of  the  Synagogue  are 
rudely  interrupted ;  the  ruler  waits  not  to  give 
die  parting  blessing ;  the  people  tarry  not  for  a 
benediction,  but,  '*  filled  with  wrath,"  rise  up  with 
turault  and  thrust  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus  out 
of  the  house,  push  him  along  the  narrow  streets 
with  i-iolse  and  insult  and  violence,  and  lead  him 
to  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain  which  over- 
looks their  town,  that  from  its  brow  "  they  might 
cast  hira  down  headlonof."  Their  murderous 
design  was,  however,  miraculously  thwarted,  for 
our  Lord,  ''  passing  through  the  midst  of  them," 
eluded  their  grasp,  *'  went  his  way  and  came 
down  to  Capernaum.." 

Several  places  are  pointed  out  as  this  "  brow 
of  the  hill."  I'he  city  is  not  built  on  a  plain, 
nor  yet  on  a  mountain,  but  rather  on  the  sides 
of  hills  which  partially  surround  it.  Up  these 
slopes  the  town  creeps  by  means  of  Its  wind- 
ing streets  and  perched  houses,  while  one  hill, 
in  particular,  overlooks  the  town  very  much 
as  the  brow  does  the  human  face.  In  our 
walks  around  Nazareth  we  saw  one  place  which 


•7* 


78  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

remarkably  well  accords  with  the  description  In 
the  text,  where,  on  a  rocky  wall  rising  forty  or 
fifty  feet,  is  built  the  Maronite  church,  and 
which  the  Greeks  say  Is  the  real  spot  indicated 
by  St.  Luke.  This  Is  just  on  the  edge  of  the 
city;  Is  on  what  might  fitly  be  called  the  "brow 
of  the  hill,"  and  overhangs  it  with  suflficlent 
height  and  perpendicularity  to  cause  the  death 
of  any  one  who  should  be  cast  headlong  from 
its  top. 

According  to  the  Latin  or  Romish  Church,  the 
''Mount  of  Precipitation"  Is  two  miles  distant 
on  a  peak  which  does  not  overlook  the  city,  but 
overhangs  the  northern  edge  of  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon.  To  meet  the  objections  made  against 
this  place  as  too  remote  from  Nazareth,  the 
monks  reply  that  old  Nazareth  once  stood  there, 
and  that  the  new  Nazareth  does  not  occupy  the 
ancient  site.  Yet  In  this  so-called  new  Naza- 
reth (and  which  is  indeed  new  In  all  its  build- 
ings, not  one  being  here  now  which  was  in  ex- 
istence at  the  time  St.  Luke  wrote)  they  pretend 
to  show  the  grotto  of  the  Annunciation,  the 
house  of  the  Virgin,  the  workshop  of  Joseph ! 
Their  stories,  alas !  do  not  agree ;  they  are  out 
of  joint,  and  hence  we  give  them  all  to  the  winds 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH.  79 

as  worthless  fables,  forged  by  the  father  of  lies 
to  deceive  a  relic-worshiping  world. 

Passing  from  these  scenes,  let  us  briefly 
gather  up  the  lessons  which  this  Sabbath  of 
Jesus  at  Nazareth  teaches. 

The  first  is,  that  the  utmost  purity  of  life  and 
wisdom  of  speech  will  not  secure  its  possessor 
from  the  assaults  of  the  ungodly.  The  Naza- 
rethites  could  not  bring  against  Jesus  a  single 
charge  affecting  his  moral  character,  or  a  single 
sound  argument  to  gainsay  his  gracious  words. 
He  was  literally  "  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  sepa- 
rate from  sinners,  full  of  wisdom  and  of  the 
grace  of  God."  Yet  he  was  hustled  out  of  the 
Synagogue  and  thrust  along  the  highway  and 
pressed  upon  and  insulted  by  the  crowd,  and  led 
away  with  murderous  purpose  as  if  he  had  been 
a  thief  or  a  murderer.  So  that  all  his  past  spot- 
less life,  his  years  of  acknowledged  goodness, 
were  outweighed  by  the  momentary  exaspera- 
tion of  a  people  chafing  under  the  power  of 
truth. 

The  second  lesson  shows  us  the  power  of 
prejudice  to  blind  the  eye,  deafen  the  ear,  shut 
the  heart  and  warp  the  judgment  against  the 
highest  excellence.     The  prejudice  in  the  case 


80  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

of  these  people  arose  from  their  long-continued 
familiarity  with  Jesus.  It  was  an  illustration  of 
the  old  proverb,  "  Familiarity  breeds  contempt," 
and  also  of  our  Lord's  own  remark,  **  A  prophet 
is  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own  country." 
Had  they  not  known  him  from  his  youth,  had  he 
come  to  them  from  afar,  had  they  been  unable 
to  say,  "  Whose  father  and  mother  we  know,  and 
his  brethren  and  sisters,  are  they  not  with  us  ?" 
he  would  have  met  with  a  different  reception. 
They  would  not  have  had  these  prejudices  to 
hoodwink  their  eyes  and  thus  prevent  their  see- 
inof  the  excellences  which  shone  out  from  Him 
ao^ainst  whom  their  rao^e  was  so  aroused. 

It  shows  us  lastly  the  unfaltering  perseverance 
of  Satan  In  his  attempts  to  break  down  Jesus. 

He  had  instigated  Herod  the  king  to  destroy 
the  infant  Jesus,  but  had  been  thwarted  by  the 
flight  into  Egypt.  He  had  tried  to  overthrow 
his  moral  and  Messianic  character  and  brinof 
him  into  allegiance  to  himself  by  his  three 
temptations  in  the  wilderness.  Routed  in  this 
conflict  by  ''  the  sword  of  the  Spirit "  as  wielded 
by  Jesus,  he  now  employs  new  measures  of  as- 
sault, and  stirs  up  the  jealousy  and  prejudice  of 
his  townspeople  as  a  means  of  destroying  him, 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  AT  NAZARETH  8 1 

maklnof  them  the  instruments  of  his  hate.  In 
this  our  Lord  is  an  example  to  all  his  followers, 
who  must  expect  and  be  prepared  for  all  kinds 
of  temptations  and  assaults  from  the  enemy  of 
their  souls,  for  "  the  disciple  is  not  above  his  mas- 
ter, nor  the  servant  above  his  lord."  It  is,  how- 
ever, comforting  to  know  that  as  Christ  over- 
came in  every  conflict,  directly  from.  Satan  or 
indirectly  through  his  emissaries,  so  we  are  as- 
sured that  we  shall  finally  conquer  through  him, 
''  for  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered,  being 
tempted,  he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are 
tempted."  That  succor,  given  in  answer  to 
prayer,  will  enable  us  to  come  off  more  than 
conquerors  through  Christ  that  loved  us. 

F 


CHAPTER   IV. 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM. 


HIS   PREACHING. 

"  And  they  went  into  Capernaum ;  and  straightway  on  the  Sabbath 
day  he  entered  into  the  Synagogue  and  taught.  And  they  were  aston- 
ished at  his  doctrine,  for  he  taught  them  as  one  that  had  authority,  and 
not  as  the  scribes.  And  there  was  in  their  Synagogue  a  man  with  an 
unclean  spirit;  and  he  cried  out,  saying,  Let  us  alone;  what  have  we 
to  do  with  thee,  thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  art  thou  come  to  destroy  us  ? 
I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the  Holy  One  of  God.  And  Jesus  rebuked 
him,  saying.  Hold  thy  peace,  and  come  out  of  him.  And  when  the 
unclean  spirit  had  torn  him,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  he  came  out 
of  him.  And  they  were  all  amazed,  insomuch  that  they  questioned 
among  themselves,  saying.  What  thing  is  this  ?  what  new  doctrine  is 
this  ?  for  with  authority  commandeth  he  even  the  unclean  spirits,  and 
they  do  obey  him.  And  immediately  his  fame  spread  abroad  through- 
out all  the  region  round  about  Galilee."  MARK  i.  21-28. 

"  And  came  down  to  Capeiniaum,  a  city  of  Galilee,  and  taught  them 
on  the  Sabbath  days.  And  they  were  astonished  at  his  doctrine,  for 
his  word  was  with  power.  And  in  the  Synagogue  there  was  a  man 
which  had  a  spirit  of  an  unclean  devil,  and  he  cried  out  with  a  loud 
voice,  saying.  Let  us  alone ;  what  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  thou  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  ?  art  thou  come  to  destroy  us  ?  I  know  thee  who  thou  art, 
the  Holy  One  of  God.  And  Jesus  rebuked  him,  saying,  Hold  thy 
peace,  and  come  out  of  him.  And  when  the  devil  had  thrown  him  in 
the  midst,  he  came  out  of  him  and  hurt  him  not.  And  they  were  all 
amazed,  and  spake  among  themselves,  saying,  What  a  word  is  this  !  for 
with  authority  and  power  he  commandeth  the  unclean  spirits,  and  they 
come  out.  And  the  fame  of  him  went  out  into  every  place  of  the 
country  round  about.  LuKE  iv.  31-37. 
82 


CAPERNAUM   AND   SEA   OF  GALILEE. 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  83 

ROM  St.  Luke's  narrative  we  are  led 
to  infer  that  our  Lord,  after  he  was 
driven  from  Nazareth,  crossed  the 
plain  of  Galilee,  and  descending  the  western 
slope  of  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  went  to  Caper- 
naum and  there  took  up  his  temporary  abode. 
This  place  is  often  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  residence  and  teaching  and  miracles  of 
Jesus,  though  its  exact  position  is  nowhere  given 
in  the  New  Testament.  Biblical  geographers 
are  still  uncertain  as  to  its  location,  some  advo- 
cating Khan  Minyeh  as  the  site,  though  the 
weight  of  evidence  places'it  at  Tel-Hum,  on  the 
northern  shore  of  the  sea  of  Galilee,  and  not 
far  west  of  the  entrance  of  the  river  Jordan  into 
that  sea.  It  was  in  the  land  of  Gennesaret, 
which,  according  to  Josephus,  was  the  most 
populous,  busy  and  wealthy  part  of  Palestine, 
and  was  one  of  several  cities  which  almost  lined 
the  western  and  northern  shores  of  that  lake. 
It  was  a  sort  of  common  mart  for  all  that  dis- 
trict, and  hence  gathered  to  its  shops  and  ware- 
houses merchants  and  artisans  from  all  the  sur- 
rounding nations. 

Nothing  but  a  mass  of  crumbling  ruins  now 
exists   to  mark  a   spot  once  the  busiest  in  all 


84  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

northern  Palestine.     Its  glory  has  departed,  and 
desolation  occupies  its  site. 

When  our  Lord  came  to  Capernaum,  he  came 
to  a  large  and  flourishing  town,  which,  by  its 
ships  and  its  caravans,  had  commercial  relations 
with  all  the  region  round  about ;  and  here  he 
came  in  contact  with  the  upland  farmers,  the 
city  mechanics,  the  lake  fishermen,  the  Gaulon- 
ite  traders,  the  merchants  from  Damascus,  the 
Roman  soldiers  from  Tiberias,  the  hated  publi- 
can, the  courtly  nobleman,  the  learned  scribe, 
the  haughty  Pharisee.  Jew  and  Gentile,  bond 
and  free,  all  were  found  here.  It  was  just  the 
kind  of  centre,  therefore,  which  Jesus  would 
choose  for  the  better  dissemination  of  his  word 
and  works.  It  was  a  great  distributing  point  of 
thought  and  influence,  and  hence  by  putting 
himself  there  he  was  enabled  to  scatter  more 
widely  the  seed  of  the  word,  and  to  do  more  to 
attract  attention  and  mould  the  thought  of  Jew 
and  Gentile  than  if  he  had  restricted  himself  to 
Jerusalem.  Jerusalem,  the  sacred  city,  the  mu- 
nicipal guardian  of  the  Temple,  was  under-  the 
dominion  of  the  Priests,  the  Pharisees  and  the 
Herodians.  Against  Jesus,  as  a  common  enemy, 
they  all  combined,  and  he  could  not,  therefore. 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  85 

with  any  prospect  of  success,  have  estabhshed 
himself  there.  Their  subsequent  treatment  of 
him  showed  what  spirit  they  were  of.  His  aim 
during  his  earthly  ministry  was  to  get  a  hearing. 
His  miracles  were  wrouo^ht  to  attract  attention 
to  his  words  and  to  certify  their  divinity.  He 
wanted  the  people  to  see  his  works  and  hear 
his  words,  and  nowhere  could  this  so  well  be 
accomplished  as  by  taking  up  a  temporary  abode 
in  this  commercial  town,  which  is  accordingly 
spoken  of  as  "  His  own  city." 

St.  Mark  says,  "  Straightway  on  the  Sabbath 
day  he  entered  into  the  Synagogue  and  taught." 
St.  Luke  says  that  he  came  down  to  Capernaum 
and  "•  taught  them  on  the  Sabbath  days  " — i,  e., 
on  more  Sabbaths  than  one.  This  was  doubt- 
less our  Lord's  usual  Sabbath  duty.  He  had 
been  anointed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  preach  glad 
tidings,  and  he  availed  himself  of  the  Synagogue 
to  do  so  week  after  week  while  he  dwelt  in  Ca- 
pernaum. Neither  St.  Mark  nor  St.  Luke  tells 
us  what  was  the  subject-matter  of  his  teaching, 
but  St.  Matthew  incidentally  gives  it  when 
(chap.  iv.  13),  after  saying  that  Jesus,  ''leaving 
Nazareth,  came  and  dwelt  in  Capernaum,"  and 
then  telline  us  that  this  act  was  a  fulfillment  of 

8 


S6  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  In  the  opening  of  his 
ninth  chapter,  he  goes  on  to  state,  "From. that 
time  (i.  e.,  from  the  time  of  his  going  to  Caper- 
naum) Jesus  began  to  preach  and  to  say,  Re- 
pent, for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." 
This  accords  with  what  St.  Mark  (I.  14,  15)  tells 
us  was  the  general  theme  of  his  discourses  In 
Galilee ;  viz.,  "  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  saying  the  time  is  fulfilled  and  the  kingdom 
of  God  Is  at  hand.  Repent  ye  and  believe  the 
gospel." 

.  Thus  John  the  Baptist  began  his  ministry  as 
the  voice  crying  In  the  wilderness,  "  Repent  ye, 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  Thus 
the  apostles  began  their  ministry  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  by  preaching  the  fulfillment  of  the  old 
prophecies  In  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  repentance  and  faith  to  all  who  would 
obtain  salvation.  The  summary  of  the  preach- 
ing of  Jesus,  as  recorded  by  St.  Mark,  embraces 
the  whole  gospel.  In  declaring  that  "  the  time 
is  fulfilled,"  he  claimed  that  all  the  Messianic 
prophecies  had  culminated  in  him.  In  saying 
that  ''  the  kingdom  of  God,"  or  ''  of  heaven," 
*'Is  at  hand,"  he  plainly  showed  that  his  office 
was  that  of  an  inaugurator  of  this  "fifth,  unlver- 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  8/ 

sal,  heavenly  and  everlasting  kingdom  foretold 
by  Daniel  (ii.  44;  vil.  14,  27),  which  Is  to  super- 
sede all  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  to  destroy 
all  that  resist  it,"  and  that  he  came  to  earth, 
therefore,  with  the  authority  of  God  and  the  en- 
dorsement of  Heaven.  In  calllnof  men  ''to  re- 
pent,"  he  announced  the  initial  act  which  all 
must  do  before  they  can  enter  into  that  king- 
dom, and  he  clearly  declared  thereby  that  an 
unrepenting  and  an  unbelieving  man — i.  c,  man 
by  nature— man  unrenewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
— had  no  place  therein ;  while  in  requiring  all 
who  would  become  partakers  of  that  heavenly 
kingdom  to  "believe  the  gospel,"  or  the  glad 
tidings  which  he  proclaimed,  he  taught  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  faith  as  a  constant  accompani- 
ment of  repentance,  and  as  that  without  which 
"  it  is  impossible  to  please  God." 

Looking  at  the  gospel,  as  we  look  at  it, 
through  the  glass  of  revelation,  and  remember- 
ing that  Jesus  regarded  It  as  he  and  his  Apostles 
have  since  taught  us  to  regard  it,  the  gospel  is 
but  a  concrete  term  for  the  incarnate  Christ. 
The  gospel  is  "God  manifest  in  the  flesh."  The 
gospel  is  the  personal  God-man,  in  whom  only 
is  found  salvation  and  eternal  life;  for  Jesus  is 


88  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

at  once  the  object  of  our  faith,  the  fountain  of 
our  salvation,  the  procurer  of  our  pardon,  the 
embodiment  of  all  truth,  the  one  only  way  to 
God,  the  .eiver  of  eternal  life,  the  one  in  whom 
dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily. 
To  believe  the  gospel  is,  then,  to  believe  in 
Jesus — to  believe  in  and  accept  him,  in  his  per- 
son, as  God  manifest  in  the  flesh ;  in  his  office, 
as  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  the  anointed  Mes- 
siah ;  and  in  his  work  as  the  reconciler  of  man 
to  God,  the  destroyer  of  the  works  of  the  devil 
and  the  author  of  eternal  salvation. 

In  what  a  glorious  attitude  does  this  present 
our  dear  Lord !  An  incarnate  God !  Every 
gospel  blessing,  every  gospel  truth,  every  gos- 
pel grace,  every  gospel  glory,  .meeting  in  and 
dwelling  permanently  in  him,  even  as  all  light, 
all  heat,  all  the  elements  of  beauty,  all  the  con- 
stituents of  bodily  life,  dwell  in  and  flow  from 
the  central  sun.  Jesus,  in  his  conscious  divinity, 
knew  this,  and  hence  he  required  all  his  disci- 
ples to  believe  in  him,  to  honor  him,  to  drink  of 
him  as  out  of  a  living  well-spring,  to  feed  on 
him  as  a  living  bread  sent  down  from  heaven, 
to  abide  in  him  as  the  branch  abideth  on  the 
vine,  and  to  grow  up  into  him  as  head  over  all 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  89 

things  to  the  Church  which  is  his  body."  Had 
Plato  or  Socrates,  or  any  of  the  great  teachers 
of  ancient  philosophy,  thus  spoken,  how  would 
they  have  been  derided  and  come  to  naught ! 
They  told  men  to  believe  in  certain  dogmas 
elaborated  In  certain  schools,  but  never  did  they 
say  to  their  disciples  In  the  porch,  the  grove  or 
the  academy.  Believe  in  me,  "I  am  the' way, 
the  truth,  the  life.  No  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father  but  by  me."  This  separates  Jesus  from 
all  other  teachers,  and  this  lifts  up  his  truth 
above  all  human  doctrines,  and  gives  to  the 
humble  Preacher  in  the  Synagogue  of  Caper- 
naum a  power  and  a  glory,  before  which  the 
proudest  names  of  human  philosophy  fade  away 
as  do  the  stars  before  the  light  of  a  noonday 
sun. 

With  reference  to  the  effect  of  Christ's  teach- 
ing on  the  Sabbath  in  Capernaum  two  facts  are 
stated. 

First,  it  Is  said  "  that  they  were  astonished  at 
his  doctrine."  This  might  mean  either  that  the 
people  were  astonished  that  one  In  such  humble 
life  should  be  able  to  speak  so  well  and  fluently, 
or  else  Indicates  their  surprise  at  the  new  truths 
which  he  proclaimed. 

8* 


go  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

Either  of  these  would  constitute  a  good 
ground  of  astonishment  to  the  Capernaumites, 
for,  to  all  outward  appearance,  he  was  but  an 
ordinary  workman  from  despised  Nazareth,  who 
neither  by  birth,  social  standing  nor  education 
had  any  special  claim  to  their  regard. 

But  much  as  they  were  surprised  at  the  force 
and  authority  with  which  he  spoke,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  real  ground  of  their  astonish- 
ment was  the  astounding  truths  which  he  ut- 
tered. 

These,  as  we  have  just  seen,  though  only 
hinted  at  by  the  Evangelist,  were  yet  the  great 
themes  of  Hebrew  prophecy  and  Hebrew  hope 
for  thousands  of  years,  and  therefore  all  true 
Jewish  hearts  must  have  been  stirred  up  by 
their  new  proclamation.  But  then  the  way  in 
which  these  Messianic  prophecies  were  fulfilled, 
and  the  manner  in  which  the  kinc^dom  of  the 

o 

lonof  looked-for  Messiah  was  to  be  entered  and 
enjoyed,  was  something  entirely  different  from 
all  their  preconceived  notions,  and  offended 
their  pride  and  all  the  instincts  of  the  natural 
heart. 

Our  Lord,  in  his  several  discourses  in  Caper- 
naum, doubtless  went  into  most  Interesting  un- 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  9 1 

foldings  of  type  and  prophecy  and  ritual  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  of  the  Jewish  economy. 
He  explained  to  them  the  hitherto  obscure  pas- 
sages of  the  Scriptures ;  he  applied  to  himself 
their  words  as  they  taught  the  doctrine  of  the 
Messiah  and  his  holy  and  universal  reign. 

And  then,  too,  he  urged  them  to  repentance, 
to  faith  or  belief  in  the  gospel.  He  did  not 
urge  more  frequent  attendance  at  the  Syna- 
gogue, more  frequenjt  sacrifices  at  the  altar, 
more  fastings,  more  tithings,  more  pilgrimages 
to  the  holy  city.  He  did  not  flatter  their  na- 
tional pride  as  Jews  or  foster  their  false  hopes 
of  salvation  because  they  were  the  children  of 
Abraham.  On  the  contrary,  passing  by  all  those 
things  in  which  the  Jews  most  prided  themselves, 
and  by  which  he  might  gain  for  himself  personal 
popularity,  he,  like  John  the  Baptist,  lays  the 
axe  at  the  root  of  the  tree,  and  declares  that 
entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God  Is  not  ob- 
tained by  being  a  Jew  simply,  by  the  sacrifices 
of  the  law,  by  accepting  the  traditions  of  their 
fathers,  by  any  of  the  works  which  they  do  "  to 
be  seen  of  men,"  by  the  most  rigid  Phariseeism 
or  by  the  most  scrupulous  Judaism,  but  only  by 
repentance  and  faith — a  ''repentance"  which  Is 


92  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

the  result  of  conscious  sin  and  guilt  in  the  sight 
of  God,  which  brings  to  one  moral  level  Jew  and 
Gentile,  which  respects  not  words,  but  the  in- 
most feelings  of  the  soul,  which  makes  one  feel 
his  vileness  and  causes  him  to  cry  out  for  mercy ; 
and  a  *'  faith,"  or  belief,  in  the  gospel  which  ena- 
bles one.  to  recognize  Jesus  as  the  Saviour 
whom  "God  hath  set  forth  to  be  the  propitiation 
for  sin,"  and  to  accept  him  as  a  personal  Saviour 
in  all  the  fullness  and  freeness  of  his  divine 
grace.  These  were  new  truths  to  the  Caper- 
naumites,  and  well  might  they  be  "astonished" 
at  their  bold  enunciation,  for  it  is  said  that  "  His 
word  was  with  power." 

The  second  marked  effect  of  his  preaching 
was  that  they  immediately  drew  a  distinction 
between  the  teaching  of  Jesus  and  that  of  the 
scribes:  "He  taught  as  one  that  had  authority, 
and  not  as  the  scribes." 

This  contrast  is  exceedingly  interesting,  as  It 
unlocks  to  us  the  wretched  state  of  public 
teaching  then  common  in  the  Synagogues  and 
schools,  and  places  it  in  strong  opposition  to 
the  pure,  clear,  pungent  doctrine  of  the  blessed 
Jesus. 

The  scribes  were  the  learned  class  anions  the 

o 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  93 

Jews,  and  were  the  recognized  custodians  and 
expounders  of  the  law  of  Moses  and  of  the 
prophets.  They  were  usually  of  Priestly  or  Le- 
vitical  rank  ;  to  them  was  specially  entrusted  the 
multiplication  of  copies  of  the  Old  Testament, 
to  the  study  of  which  they  devoted  themselves 
with  much  assiduity.  "  Our  fathers,"  said  Simon 
the  Just,  one  of  their  great  scribes,  300  years 
B.  C,  "have  taught  us  three  things — to  be  cau- 
tious in  judging,  to  trg-in  many  scholars  and  to 
set  a  fence  about  the  law."  As  transcribers  of 
the  law  they  acquitted  themselves  with  wonder- 
ful accuracy  and  conscientiousness.  Nothing 
could  exceed  their  care  of  the  sacred  text. 
They  were  scrupulously  minute  as  to  words, 
letters  and  points.  To  their  minute  accuracy 
and  watchful  fidelity  we  owe  the  preservation 
of  the  very  w^ords  of  the  Old  Testament.  They 
looked  with  superstitious  reverence  upon  every 
letter  and  numeral  of  the  divine  word,  and 
guarded  it  from  any  admixture  of  man  with 
jealous  care.  Yet  while  thus  vigilant  as  to  the 
letter  of  Scripture,  and  while  nothing  w^ould 
have  induced  them  to  add  a  "jot"  or  "tittle"  to 
the  text,  they  virtually  made  void  the  law  by 
their   traditions.     These   traditions,   or   current 


94  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

precepts,  which  had  been  handed  down  to  them 
from  their  fathers,  were  concreted  Into  the 
Mishna.  To  this  code  was  added  the  Gemara, 
in  which  were  gathered  the  decisions  of  Rabbis, 
the  fables  of  Jewish  superstition,  and  together 
these  constituted  the  Tahnud,  or  the  great  body 
of  rabbinical  law.  This  work,  the  Jerusalem  Tal- 
mud, though  not  published  until  the  fourth  cen- 
tury after  Christ,  is  a  transcript,  however,  of  what 
was  held  and  taught  orally  in  our  Lord's  day,  and 
enables  us  to  see  the  puerility,  the  superstition, 
the  folly,  the  blasphemy  even,  of  those  traditions 
of  the  scribes  and  elders  which  Jesus  so  re- 
buked in  his  sermon  on  the  mount  and  in  all  his 
interviews  with  this  class.  Witness  his  denun- 
ciation of  them  as  recorded  in  the  twenty-third 
chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  where,  after  saying  that 
"  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  sit  In  Moses'  seat. 
All  therefore  whatsoever  they  bid  you  observe, 
that  observe  and  do,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  But 
do  not  ye  after  their  works,  for  they  say  and  do 
not,  for  they  bind  heavy  burdens  and  grievous 
to  be  borne,  and  lay  them  on  men's  shoulders, 
but  they  themselves  will  not  move  them  with 
one  of  their  fingers ;  but  all  their  works  they 
do  for  to  be  seen  of  men ;   they  make  broad 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  95 

their  phylacteries  and  enlarge  the  borders  of 
their  garments,  and  love  the  uppermost  rooms 
at  feasts,  and  the  chief  seats  in  the  Synagogues, 
and  greetings  in  the  market,  and  to  be  called  of 
men.  Rabbi,  Rabbi."  Then,  warning  his  hearers 
against  following  them,  our  Lord  utters  eight 
woes  against  them,  which  may  be  considered  as 
eieht  counts  in  his  indictment  ao^ainst  this  law- 

o  o 

perverting  and  soul-destroying  class.  In  these 
denunciations  against  these  hypocrites  he  thus 
charges  them  :  *'  Ye  shut  up  the  kingdom  against 
men,  for  ye  neither  go  in  yourselves,  neither  suf- 
fer ye  them  that  are  entering  to  go  in."  "  Ye 
devour  widows'  houses,  and  for  a  pretence  make 
long  prayers."  "Ye  compass  sea  and  land  to 
make  one  proselyte,  and  when  he  is  made  ye 
make  him  twofold  more  the  child  of  hell  than 
yourselves."  "  Ye  blind  guides  which  say.  Who- 
soever shall  swear  by  the  temple,  it  is  nothing, 
but  whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  gold  of  the 
temple,  he  is  a  debtor.  Whosoever  shall  swear 
by  the  altar,  it  is  nothing,  but  whosoever  swear- 
eth  by  the  gift  that  is  upon  it,  he  is  guilty.  Ye 
pay  tithes  of  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and 
have  omitted  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law, 
judgment,  mercy,  faith."     "  Ye  strain  at  a  gnat 


96  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

and  swallow  a  camel."  *'  Ye  make  clean  the 
outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter,  but  within 
they  are  full  of  extortion  and  excess."  ''  Ye  are 
like  whited  sepulchres,  which  indeed  appear 
beautiful  outward,  but  are  within  full  of  dead 
men's  bones  and  of  all  uncleanness  ;  even  so  ye 
also  outwardly  appear  righteous  unto  men,  but 
within  ye  are  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity." 
"  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers,  how  can 
ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell.*^"  This  was 
the  deliberate  judgment  of  Him  who  "knew^ 
what  was  in  man,"  who  knew  the  thoughts  and 
intents  of  the  heart,  and  whose  judgment  was 
just  and  true.  We  can  scarcely  imagine  a  class 
of  men  who,  considering  their  official  position, 
their  social  standing  and  their  avowed  sanctity, 
were  more  thoroughly  rotten  and  morally  lep- 
rous than  these  blind  guides  who  sat  in  Moses' 
seat,  and  who  were  the  recognized  expounders 
of  God's  holy  law.  How  great  and  deep-seated 
must  have  been  the  crimes  of  these  people  to 
call  out  from  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus  such 
maledictions  !  How  he  rose  above  all  personal 
considerations  of  interest  or  of  fear,  when  he 
thus  publicly,  and  renewedly,  denounced  such 
woes,  not  against  the  lowest  orders  of  society, 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  97 

but  against  the  highest  and  most  learned  class, 
the  most  powerful  in  State  and  Synagogue,  the 
very  men  whom  he  knew  would  in  a  few  days 
crown  their  life  of  infamy  by  putting  him  to  a 
death  of  shame ! 

Of  the  puerility  of  the  teachings  of  these 
scribes  instances  miorht  be  adduced  sufficient  to 
fill  a  volume ;  only  a  few  need  be  inserted  here 
as  indicative  of  all.  From  the  text,  "  Thou  hast 
fashioned  me  behind  and  before,"  they  deduced 
the  conclusion  that  Adam  was  made  with  tv/o 
faces,  and  that  Eve  was  made  by  sawing  him 
asunder.  'Tf  a  man  should  be  born  with  two 
heads,  on  which  forehead  should  he  bind  the 
phylacteries  ?"  is  a  sample  of  the  subjects  of 
their  most  serious  discussions.  On  the  feast  of 
Purim  the  pious  Jew  was  recommended  to 
make  himself  so  mellow  that  he  should  not  be 
able  to  distinguish  between  "  Cursed  be  Haman" 
and  "  Blessed  be  Mordecai." 

From   the   Mosaic  provision   of  divorce  the 

conclusion  was  drawn  that  a  man  might  divorce 

his  wife  whenever  he  found  a  woman  handsomer 

and  more  to  his  liking,  since  his  wife  no  longer 

found  favor  In  his  eyes.     But  enough  of  this. 

Yet  with  few  exceptions  such  was  the  general 
9  G 


98  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

tone  of  the  teachinor  in  the  schools  and  in  the 
Synagogues,  by  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  the 
recoo^nized  doctors  of  the  law. 

It  required,  therefore,  not  much  sagacity  to 
discern  the  difference  between  our  Lord's  teach- 
ing and  theirs,  and  to  contrast  the  power  of  the 
truth  and  the  authority  of  the  speaker  with  the 
emptiness  of  the  doctrines  and  the  hesitancy  and 
uncertainty  of  those  who  thus  taught  for  com- 
mandments the  traditions  of  men. 

They  were  doubtful  teachers,  not  fully  believ- 
ing the  truths  they  pretended  to  expound.  They 
were  false  teachers,  setting  aside  the  great  truths 
of  Jehovah  for  the  puerile  comments  of  men, 
exalting  the  ceremonial  over  the  moral  law,  and 
makinof  the  essence  of  relio^ion  to  consist  in 
washing  of  hands  and  pots  and  kettles,  in  the 
breadth  of  the  border  of  the  garment,  in  the 
size  and  number  of  the  phylacteries,  in  the  tith- 
ing of  anise  and  mint  and  cummin,  rather  than 
In  love  to  God  and  in  a  life  of  obedience  to  his 
commandments.  This  led  to  the  complete  ig- 
norinof  of  that  o^rand  Messianic  scheme  which 
was  the  central  theme  of  all  their  law,  their 
prophecy,  their  ritual,  their  theocracy,  and  which, 
had  it  been  rightly  taught,  would  have  fired  their 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.  99 

hearts,  quickened  their  mnids  and  inspired  them 
with  hohest  hopes  and  a  hving  faith. 

For  this  was  the  "power"  that  accompanied 
Jesus'  teaching.  He  taught  not  the-  silly  sput- 
terings  of  babbling  scribes,  but  the  great  utter- 
ances of  God  as  comprehended  by  his  divine 
mind. 

He  spoke  not  doubtingly  or  with  uncertainty 
as  to  what  was  or  was  not  right  and  good  and 
true,  as  they  did,  but  with  the  "authority"  and 
the  positiveness  of  incarnate  truth,  speaking,  as 
he  said  to  Nicodemus,  "that  w^e  do  know,  and 
testifying  that  we  have  seen." 

Could  there  be  greater  contrasts  as  to  the 
persons  who  taught,  the  manner  in  which  they 
spoke,  the  doctrines  they  inculcated,  and  the  ef- 
fects which  followed  ?       . 

Well  might  they  be  "  astonished  at  his  doc- 
trine, for  his  word  was  with  power." 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM. 

(Continued.) 

CHRIST'S  WORKS   IN  THE   SYNAGOGUE. 


E  have  seen  the  ''power"  of  Christ's 
word  on  the  Sabbath :  let  us  now  con- 
sider the  "power"  of  Christ's  deeds 
at  the  same  time  and  place. 

The  subject  thus  introduced  is  that  of  per- 
sons possessed  with  devils,  or  demoniacal  pos- 
session. That  there  were  such  cases  in  our 
Lord's  day  is  proven  by  the  frequent  mention 
of  them  in  the  New  Testament.  In  the  Gospels 
generally,  in  James  ii.  19,  and  in  Rev.  xiv.  15 
the  demons  are  spoken  of  as  spiritual  beings  at 
enmity  with  God,  and  having  power  to  afflict 
man,  not  only  with  disease,  but,  as  is  marked  by 
the  frequent  epithet,  ''unclean,"  with  spiritual 
pollution  also.  They  "believe"  in  the  exist- 
ence of  Christ,  "  and  tremble."     They  recognize 

Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  acknowledge  the 

100 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         1 01 

power  of  his  name  used  in  exorcism  by  his  ap- 
pointed ministers  as  equal  to  the  name  of  Jeho- 
vah (Acts  xix.  15),  and  look  forward  in  terror 
to  the  judgment  to  come.  The  description  is 
precisely  that  of  a  nature  akin  to  the  angelic  in 
knowledge  and  power,  but  with  the  emphatic 
addition  of  the  idea  of  positive  and  active 
wickedness.  That  these  evil  spirits  were  per- 
mitted by  God  at  that  time  to  possess  certain 
persons  does  not,  in  the  face  of  the  facts  of  the 
New  Testament,  admit  of  a  doubt.  That  they 
are  not  merely  "symbolic  utterances,"  ''unreal 
in  actual  life,"  as  the  mythical  school  teaches,  is 
evident  from  the  way  in  which  all  these  narra- 
tives are  introduced,  so  that,  if  they  are  myths, 
all  else  is  mythical ;  they  are  part  and  parcel  of 
the  same  Aveb  of  history,  and  are  with  other 
facts  its  warp  and  woof  Take  one  set  away, 
and  you  destroy  the  whole  texture.  If  these 
are  myths,  then  all  that  is  miraculous  in  the 
Bible  is  a  myth,  and  Judaism  as  the  conservator 
of  the  covenant  promises  of  God,  of  the  truth 
of  God,  of  the  worship  of  God  and  the  usherer 
in  of  the  Messiah ;  and  Christianity  as  the  ripe 
fruit  of  that  budding  and  blossoming  Judaism, 

with  all  its  grand  and  elevating  influences  upon 
9* 


102  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

the  world  of  politics,  the  world  of  letters,  the 
world  of  morals,  the  world  of  art,  are  no  better 
than  the  mythology  of  Homer  or  the  theogony 
of  Hesiod.     That  they  were  not,  as  some  sup- 
pose, mere  cases  of  moral  Insanity,  though  they 
have  many  symptoms  in  common,  Is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  our  Lord  addresses  himself  several 
times  to  the  demon  itself,  speaks  to  him  and  of 
him  as  something  distinct  from  the  man  himself, 
as  when  he  said  (Mark  I.  25),  "Hold  thy  peace 
and  come  out  of  him ;"  from  the  fact,  that  they 
had  a  personal  knowledge  of  Christ  as  being 
not  as  the  Jews  generally  called  him,  "  the  Son 
of  David,"  but  as  "the  Son  of  God;"  and  again 
they  said,  "  We  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the , 
holy  One   of  God ;"   from    the    fact,  tliat  they 
asked  questions  aside  from  anything  that  could 
have  been  personal  to  the  man  possessed,  and 
they  marked  their  own  individualism  and  their 
perfect  distinctness  of  personality  from  the  un- 
fortunates whom  they  temporarily  subjected  to 
their  thrall,  by  asking,  "  If  thou  cast  us  out,  suf- 
fer us    to   go   away   into   the  herd  of  swine." 
These,  with  many  other  facts  and  reasons,  abun- 
dantly discriminate  these  cases  from  those  which 
in  our  day  are  classed  under  the  head  of  moral 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         IO3 

insanity.  That  theory  completely  fails  to  meet 
and  satisfy  all  the  demands  of  the  various  cases 
stated  in  the  Gospels. 

That  our  Lord  fell  in  with  the  common  belief 
of  the  day,  and  used  the  superstitious  language 
of  the  times  in  order  not  only  not  to  run  coun- 
ter to  the  Jewish  prejudices,  but  also  and  espe- 
cially thereby  to  augment  the 'greatness  of  his 
pretended  cures,  is  to  attribute  to  him  falsehood 
in  speaking  what  he  knew  to  be  untrue  ;  dissimu- 
lation in  countenancing  gross  error;  and  a  pan- 
dering to  the  popular  taste  and  sentiment  such 
as  can  be  found  in  no  one  act  of  his  whole  life. 

It  would  make  our  blessed  Lord  deceitful, 
cringing,  hypocritical  and  false.  "  The  alle- 
giance we  owe  to  Christ  as  the  Kino-  of  truth, 
who  came  not  to  fall  in  with  men's  errors,  but  to 
deliver  men  out  of  their  errors,  compels  us  to 
believe  that  he  would  never  have  used  lanoruaQ^e 
which  would  have  upheld  and  confirmed  so  se- 
rious an  error  in  the  minds  of  men  as  the  belief 
in  Satanic  influences  which  did  not  in  truth  exist, 
for  this  error,  if  it  was  an  error,  was  so  little  an 
innocuous  one,  such  as  might  be  left  to  drop 
naturally  away,  did,  on  the  contrary,  reach  so  far 
in  its  consequences,  entwined  its  roots  so  deeply 


I04  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

among  the  very  ground  truths  of  religion  that 
he  would  never  have  suffered  It  to  remain  at 
the  hazard  of  all  the  mlsQfrowths  which  it  could 
not  fail  to  occasion." 

''Even  had  not  the  moral  interests  at  stake 
been  so  transcendent,  our  Idea  of  Christ's  abso- 
lute veracity,  apart  from  the  value  of  the  truth 
which  he  communicated,  forbids  us  to  suppose 
that  he  could  have  spoken  as  he  did,  being  per- 
fectly aware  all  the  while  that  there  was  no  cor- 
responding reality  to  justify  the  language  which 
he  used.  Take,  for  instance,  his  words  (Luke 
xi.  17-26.  His  reply  to  those  who  said  he  cast 
out  devils  by  Beelzebub  the  prince  of  devils), 
and  assume  him  to  have  known  all  the  while  he 
was  thus  speaking  that  the  whole  Jewish  belief 
of  demoniac  possessions  was  utterly  baseless, 
that  Satan  exercised  no  such  power  over  the 
bodies  or  spirits  of  men,  that,  indeed,  properly 
speaking,  there  was  no  Satan  at  all,  and  what 
should  we  have  here  for  a  kinof  of  truth?" 

It  involves  more  difficulties  and  requires  more 
credulity  to  accept  the  rationalistic  and  mythical 
explanations  of  these  passages,  than  to  believe 
the  generally  received  and  literal  interpretation 
of  them  as  declaring  ''  that  there  are  evil  spirits, 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         I05 

subjects  of  the  evil  one,  who  In  the  days  of  the 
Lord  himself,  and  his  Apostles  especially,  were 
permitted  by  God  to  exercise  a  direct  and  con- 
trolllnof  Influence  over  the  souls  and  bodies  of 
certain  men,  producing  violent  agitations  and 
great  sufferings  both  mental  and  corporeal." 

While  we  confess,  then,  that  there  Is  much 
that  Is  mysterious  and  Inexplicable  In  the  sev- 
eral narratives  of  the  demoniacs,  we  are  bound 
by  all  the  laws  of  evidence  and  reason  to  accept 
their  statements,  not  only  because  they  are  part 
and  parcel  of  one  grand  revelation,  and  so  can- 
not be  disjointed  and  removed  without  detri- 
ment to  the  whole,  but  also  because  they  are 
more  easily  explained  In  the  position  they  hold, 
and  by  their  surroundings  In  the  several  Gos- 
pels, than  by  any  other  system  of  interpretation. 

"■  For  this  purpose,"  says  St,  John,  "  the  Son 
of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil ;"  and  surely  by  no 
method  could  our  Lord  make  this  appear  more 
visible  or  tangible  to  men,  than  by  healing 
all  manner  of  diseases  which  constituted  one 
crop  of  Satan's  sowings  In  our  bodies,  and  by 
casting  out  devils  from  those,  whom  the  prince 
of  darkness  had  brought  under  his  thrall;  for  in 


I06  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

both  cases  there  was  a  direct  appeal  to  men's 
senses — to  their  absolute  knowledge  of  things 
as  an  evidence  of  good  results  effected — which 
they  could  not,  in  the  face  of  the  facts,  deny. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  miracle  itself.  In 
the  Capernaum  Synagogue,  drawn  thither  by 
impulses  which  we  cannot  know,  was  one  of  the 
demoniacs — one  who,  as  St.  Mark  says,  had  "an 
unclean  spirit,"  or,  as  St.  Luke  writes,  he  "  had  a 
spirit  of  an  unclean  devil." 

The  terms  ''clean"  and  "unclean"  are  bor- 
rowed from  the  Levitical  law,  where  certain 
things,  certain  acts  and  certain  conditions  were 
termed  by  that  law  as  being  "unclean"  or  defil- 
ing, and  as  necessarily  excluding  such  persons 
or  things  from  participation  and  use  in  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  that  ritual.  David  used  the 
terms  to  express  spiritual  purity  or  holiness. 
Hence  he  says,  "  Create  in  me,  O  God,  a  clean 
heart."  "  Cleanse  thou  me  from  my  secret 
faults ;"  and  in  reply  to  the  question,  "  Who 
shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord  ?"  the 
Psalmist  replies,  "  He  that  hath  clean  hands  and 
a  put-e  heart,"  etc. 

The  gospel  use  of  the  term  unclean  is  equiva- 
lent to  sinful,  or  unholy,  and  means  the  absence 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         10/ 

of  purity,  of  soundness,  of  goodness,  of  holi- 
ness. 

All  sin  is  uncleanness,  and  it  is  thus  spoken 
of  in  a  general  term  by  the  apostle  when  he 
says,  "God  hath  not  called  us  unto  uncleanness, 
but  unto  holiness." 

Our  blessed  Lord  also,  speaking  to  his  disci- 
ples, said  of  them,  after  he  had  washed  their 
feet  (John  xiii.  lo,  ii),  "Ye  are  clean,  but  not 
all,  for  he  knew  who  should  betray  him,  there- 
fore said  he.  Ye  are  not  all  clean." 

The  uncleanness  of  sin  results  from  the  fact 
that  it  attacks  the-  holiness  of  God,  and  would, 
were  it  universally  prevalent,  eradicate  all  purity 
from  the  world.  Sin  is  the  work  of  the  devil, 
for  the  apostle  says  (i  John  iii.  8),  "He  that 
committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil,  for  the  devil  sin- 
neth  from  the  beginning."  He  is  the  moral  an- 
tagonist of  Jehovah.  He  is,  therefore,  by  this 
very  antagonism,  unclean,  unholy,  the  opposite 
of  whatever  God  is  in  his  perfection.  There  is 
in  him  no  moral  uprightness,  no  truth,  no  purity, 
no  goodness.  He  is  "  the  enemy  and  the  oppo- 
nent of  all  righteousness,"  and  all  the  deeds  he 
has  done  since  his  rebellion  in  heaven,  and  all 
the  deeds  which  he  has  instigated  his  servants 


I08  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

to  do  on  this  earth,  from  the  temptation  of  Eve 
in  the  o^arden  of  Eden  to  this  hour,  have  been 
unclean,  a  defiHng  of  man  made  in  the  image  of 
God,  a  dehhng  of  God's  law,  the  reflection  of 
the  holiness  of  God ;  a  defiling  of  the  character 
and  work  of  Jesus,  the  brightness  of  the  Fath- 
er's glory  and  the  express  image  of  his  person ; 
a  defiling  of  the  revealed  will  of  God  as  holy 
men  wrote  it  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost;  a  defiling  of  the  Church  of  the  living 
God,  the  mystical  body  of  Christ,  by  polluting  it 
with  heresy  and  superstition  and  evil  living  of 
its  professors.  Thus  sin,  unclean  in  its  nature, 
its  origin,  its  influence,  seeks  ever  to  make  un- 
clean what  it  touches,  and  gives  to  each  soul  that 
moral  defilement,  that  spiritual  pollution,  which 
makes  it  in  the  sight  of  God  unclean,  and  which 
requires  for  its  cleansing  that,  and  that  alone, 
which  can  change  its  character  and  give  it 
purity — viz.,  atoning  blood ;  for  it  is  a  great  and 
a  sublime  and  a  most  comforting  truth  "  that  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sins." 

Every  sinner  is  thus  the  servant  of  an  "un- 
clean" master.  Every  sin  is  an  ''unclean"  act, 
and  a  life  of  sin  is  a  daily  adding  of  uncleanness 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         IO9 

to  uncleanness  until  both  the  substance  and  the 
surface  of  the  soul,  its  inward  principles  and  its 
outward  manifestations,  are  full  of  pollution,  an 
object  of  just  abhorrence  to  holy  angels  and  a 
holy  God,  who,  we  are  told,  cannot  look  upon 
sin  but  with  abhorrence.  The  man  thus  pos- 
sessed "with  the  spirit  of  an  unclean  devil" 
had,  it  may  be,  lucid  intervals,  and  in  one  of 
these  temporary  lulls  perhaps  he  went  to  the 
Synagogue.  During  the  teaching  of  Jesus  the 
man  began  to  manifest  symptoms  of  demoniacal 
possession ;  and  though  it  does  not  appear  that 
our  Lord  had  addressed  a  word  to  him,  yet  he 
cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  "Let  us  alone. 
What  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  thou  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ?  art  thou  come  to  destroy  us  ?  I 
know  thee  who  thou  art,  the  holy  One  of  God." 
Such  an  interruption  of  the  discourse  of  Jesus 
must  have  spread  terror  in  the  minds  of  the 
congregation,  and  we  may  readily  imagine  the 
alarm  that  would  be  produced  by  the  presence 
of  a  dem.oniac  under  the  active  spell  and  po- 
tency of  an  unclean  spirit,  not  knowing  what  he 
might  say  or  what  he  might  do. 

To  reassure  the  trembling  audience  ready  to 
break  away  from  so  dreaded  a  spectacle,  to  stop 


10 


no  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

the  iindesired  confession  and  acknowledgment 
of  the  evil  one,  and  to  manifest  his  own  power 
over  the  unseen  spirits  thus  working  their  foul 
work  through  human  agencies,  our  Lord  calls 
out,  not  to  the  man,  but  to  the  devil  within  him, 
"•  Hold  thy  peace  and  come  out  of  him."  He 
thus  recognized  the  presence  within  the  man  of 
a  spiritual  agent  separate  and  apart  from  the 
man,  a  duality  of  existence  wherein  the  human 
Vv'as  subjected  and  captive  to  the  demon  who  In- 
habited him,  the  subordination  of  the  whole  man 
to  the  power  of  the  devil.  To  the  command  of 
Jesus,  "  Hold  thy  peace  and  come  out  of  him," 
there  was  an  immediate  though  reluctant  obe- 
dience.  The  unclean  spirit  w^as  not  willing  to 
go,  and  yet  go  he  must,  but  go  he  would  not  until 
he  had  done  all  the  hurt  which  his  limited  and 
impotent  rage  permitted,  and  hence  it  is  stated  by 
St.  Mark  that  "when  he  had  torn  him  and  cried 
out  with  a  loud  voice,  he  came  out  of  him,"  and 
by  St.  Luke,  "When  the  devil  had  thrown  him 
in  the  midst,  he  came  out  of  him  and  hurt  him 
not."  These  accounts  seem  to  show  that  as 
soon  as  the  unclean  spirit  heard  the  word  of 
Christ  he  threw  the  man  into  violent  convulsions, 
during  the  paroxysm  of  which  he  was  torn  with 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         Ill 

pain  and  suffering,  so  that  he  fell  writhing  in  the 
midst  of  the  people,  and  uttering  the  loud  and 
terrifying,  though  inarticulate,  cry  of  blended 
rage  on  the  part  of  the  devil  and  torture  on  the 
part  of  the  demoniac,  so  that  it  sounded  through 
the  Synagogue  like  the  yell  of  a  defeated  yet 
still  defiant  spirit,  the  unclean  spirit  departed 
from  him.  We  have  at  Mark  ix.  26  (cf.  Luke 
ix.  42)  an  analogous  case,  although  there  a  par- 
oxysm more  violent  still  accompanies  the  going 
out  of  the  foul  spirit,  "for  what  the  devil  cannot 
keep  as  his  own  he  will,  if  he  can,  destroy ;  even 
as  Pharaoh  never  treated  the  children  of  Israel 
so  ill  as  then,  when  they  were  just  escaping 
from  their  grasp.  Something  similar  is  ever- 
more finding  place,  and  Satan  tempts,  plagues 
and  buffets  none  so  fiercely  as  those  who  are  in 
the  act  of  being  delivered  from  his  tyranny  for 
ever."  The  exclamation  of  the  man,  "Let  us 
alone,  thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth;  art  thou  come 
to  destroy  us  ?  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the 
holy  One  of  God,"  showed  that  the  evil  spirits 
knew  Christ  even  in  his  guise  of  humanity,  as 
if  this  man  had  said,  "You  appear  outwardly  as 
only  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  I  know  thee  who 
thou  art,  the  holy  One  of  God ;"  and  with  this 


112  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

confession  as  to  the  person  of  Jesus  there  was 
also  implied  an  acknowledgment  of  his  power 
and  authority  over  them,  for  the  unclean  spirit 
asked,  ''Art  thou  come  to  destroy  us?"  They 
knew  that  it  was  the  work  of  the  Messiah,  whose 
presence  under  the  garb  and  name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  they  recognized,  to  destroy  the  work 
of  the  devil  and  to  bind  hand  and  foot  and  cast 
into  outer  darkness,  where  their  worm  dieth  not 
and  the  fire  is  not  quenched,  all  those  his  ene- 
mies, men  or  devils,  who  will  not  submit  lovingly 
to  his  sceptre  and  dominion. 

This  and  other  similar  confessions  of  the 
unclean  spirits  show  also  that  the  devils  know 
what  is  to  be  their  ultimate  fate,  that  they  are  to 
be  destroyed ;  not  destroyed  by  annihilation — 
that  is  directly  contrary  to  the  clear  teaching 
of  the  Bible — but  destroyed  In  a  sense  corre- 
sponding with  the  term  "second  death;"  that 
destruction  of  all  hope,  all  love,  all  peace, 
all  joy,  all  rest,  which  will  be  the  doom  of  the 
wicked,  that  dying  out  within  them  of  every- 
thing that  once  was  good,  that  deadness  of  the 
soul  to  all  the  high  and  holy  bliss  of  heaven, 
that  entombment  of  the  disembodied  spirit  in 
the  eternal  prison-house  of  the  lost,  where  the 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.        II3 

smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  for  ever  and 
ever. 

In  dlrectino^  the  devil  who  had  made  this  con- 
fession  concerning  Jesus  to  "  hold  his  peace,"  or, 
literally,  "  be  muzzled,"  Jesus  showed  that  he 
wanted  not  his  testimony  to  His  divine  mis- 
sion. The  truth  needed  no  witness  to  it 
from  the  "  father  of  lies ;"  nor  was  Jesus  to  be 
bought  off  from  his  purpose  of  dispossessing 
this  poor  man  by  the  flattery  of  the  unclean 
spirit  within  him,  saying  that  he  was  the  holy 
One  of  Cod,  and  that  he  had  the  power  to 
destroy  him. 

What  Jesus  did  in  this  case  we  find  he  did  also 
in  others,  for  it  is  said  in  another  place,  "  He  suf- 
fered not  the  devils  to  speak,  because  they  knew 
him,"  conscious,  perhaps,  that  their  attestation 
might  w^eaken  the  force  of  his  words,  and  subject 
his  ministry  and  his  works  to  the  charge  of  col- 
lusion with  the  spirits  whom  he  thus  appeared  to 
cast  out.  Indeed,  we  find  that  this  was  at  length 
distinctly  charged  upon  him :  "  He  casteth  out 
devils  by  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  devils ;"  and 
on  another  occasion,  after  listening  to  words 
which  because  of  their  spirituality  and  power 
they  could    not   comprehend,   the   people   said, 

10* 


114  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

"  He  hath  a  devil,  and  is  mad ;    why  hear  ye 
him  ?" 

The  credentials  which  Jesus  demanded  of 
these  unclean  spirits  were  not  confessions  as  to 
his  person  and  his  power,  but  obedience  to  his 
word.  By  going  out  of  men  at  his  bidding,  they 
gave  a  higher  proof  of  Jesus'  divinity  and  cha- 
racter as  the  Redeemer  from  sin,  than  could  pos- 
sibly arise  from  all  the  confessions  of  all  fallen 
angels.  By  going  out  at  Jesus'  bidding  they 
showed  to  the  world  that  in  him  lay  a  higher 
power — a  power  they  could  not  resist,  a  power 
that  only  temporarily  held  back  their  foretold 
destruction — that  they  and  their  master  and  the 
whole  realm  of  evil  which  they  represented  were' 
subordinated  to  the  word  of  Jesus,  and  thus  ac- 
knowledged his  superiority. 

And  when  we  ponder  on  it  for  a  moment, 
what  a  wonderful  testimony  to  Christ  was  thus 
borne  to  his  Messiahship,  by  the  fact  that  in 
every  instance  mentioned  in  the  Gospels,  the 
devils  hieii)  him,  feared  him,  obeyed  him,  fled 
from  his  presence,  and  deprecated  his  poiver ! 
How  it  tells  of  the  inherent  divinity  that  was 
thus  temporarily  overshadowed  by  his  humanity 
which  could  speak  with  such  authority !     How 


^THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         II5 

it  tells  of  his  supreme  dominion  over  the  whole 
world  of  spirits,  the  good  and  the  bad  being 
alike  subjects  of  his  universal  rule — the  angels 
to  minister  unto  him,  the  devils  to  believe  and 
tremble,  both  to  bow  before  him ! 

The  effects  of  this  act  of  Jesus  produced  great 
amazement  and  great  questionings.  As  this 
was  doubtless  the  first  time  that  he  had  wrought 
such  a  miracle,  and  the  first  tim.e  that  any  such 
dispossession  of  evil  spirits  had  taken  place, 
they  w^ere  entirely  unprepared  for  such  a  mxani- 
festation  of  divine  power,  such  a  grappling  with 
the  spirits  of  evil,  such  an  assertion  of  control 
over  the  unseen  world,  such  a  concentrating-  of 
power  in  speech,  as  they  then  saw  in  their  Syna- 
gogue. No  wonder  they  were  amazed,  con- 
founded, alarmed.  No  wonder  that  they  ques- 
tioned with  themselves.  What  a  word  is  this  ? 
what  new  doctrine  is  this  ?  what  thinp-  Is  this  ? 
for  with  authority  and  power  he  commandeth 
the  unclean  spirits  and  they  do  obey  him. 

Thus  wonderlnof  and  discussing  among  them- 
selves  at  what  they  had  seen  and  heard,  the 
congregation  of  the  Synagogue  broke  up  into 
little  knots  of  eager  talkers  and  listeners, 
and    as    they    went    their    several    ways,    they 


Il6  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

told  all  they  met  of  what  had  been  done,  until 
the  city  was  rife  with  the  story,  arid  all  Caper- 
naum heard  with  astonishment  that  the  new  citi- 
zen, Jesus,  who  had  so  recently  come  to  their 
town  from  Nazareth,  had  that  day  spoken  words 
such  as  their  ears  never  before  heard — words  of 
truth  and  holiness  and  power — and  done  a  deed 
that  day  such  as  had  never  been  wrought  in  all 
Israel,  the  tanoible  and  livincr  evidence  of  which 
was  before  them  in  the  dispossessed  man  and 
the  hundred  witnessing  people,  so  that  they 
could  not  gainsay  or  disbelieve  without  distrust- 
inof  the  evidence  of  their  senses  and  the  credi- 
billty  of  their  friends.  This  miracle  and  this 
teaching  gave  to  Jesus  a  prominence  which  drev/ 
to  him  all  eyes,  all  ears,  as  a  great  wonder- 
worker in  Israel,  for  "  his  fame  spread  abroad 
throuo^hout  all  the  reo^ion  round  about  Galilee." 


CHAPTER   VI. 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM, 

(Continued.) 

CHRIST   OUTSIDE   THE   SYNAGOGUE. 

"  And  when  Jesus  was  come  into  Peter's  house,  he  saw  his  wife's 
mother  laid  and  sick  of  a  fever.  And  he  touched  her  hand,  and  the 
fever  left  her,  and  she  arose  and  ministered  unto  them.  When  the 
even  was  come,  they  brought  unto  him  many' that  were  possessed  with 
devils,  and  he  cast  out  the  spirits  with  his  word,  and  healed  all  that 
were  sick  :  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  Esaias  the 
prophet,  saying.  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and  bare  our  sicknesses." 
Matt.  viii.  14-17. 

"  And  forthwith,  when  they  were  come  out  of  the  Synagogue,  they 
entered  into  the  house  of  Simon  and  Andrew,  with  James  and  John. 
But  Simon's  wife's  mother  lay  sick  of  a  fever;  and  anon  they  tell  him 
of  her.  And  he  came  and  took  her  by  the  hand,  and  lifted  her  up,  and 
immediately  the  fever  left  her,  and  she  ministered  unto  them.  And  at 
even,  when  the  sun  did  set,  they  brought  unto  him  all  that  were  dis- 
eased, and  them  that  v.ere  possessed  with  devils.  And  all  the  city  was 
gathered  together  at  the  door.  And  he  healed  many  that  were  sick  of 
divers  diseases,  and  cast  out  many  devils,  and  suffered  not  the  devils  to 
speak,  because  they  knew  him."  Mark  i.  29-34. 

"  And  he  arose  out  of  the  Synagogue  and  entered  into  Simon's 
house.  And  Simon's  wife's  mother  was  taken  with  a  great  fever,  and 
they  besought  him  for  her.  And  he  stood  over  her  and  rebuked  the 
fever,  and  it  left  her,  and  immediately  she  arose  and  ministered  unto 
them.  Now,  Avhen  the  sun  was  setting,  all  they  that  had  any  sick  with 
divers  diseases  brought  them  unto  him,  and  he  laid  his  hands  on  every 
one  of  them  and  healed  them.  And  devils  also  came  out  of  many, 
crying  out  and  saying,  Thou  art  Christ  the  Son  of  God.  And  he,  re- 
buking them,  suffered  them  not  to  speak,  for  they  knew  that  he  was 
Christ."  Luke  iv.  38-41. 

117 


Il8  THE   SAB  BATHS   OF-  OUR  LORD, 

|HE  service  of  the  Synagogue,  conform- 
ing to  the  hours  of  temple  worship, 
began  at  nine  o'clock,  the  third  hour 
of  the  clay,  and  would  ordinarily  end  before 
noon.  On  this  occasion,  however,  the  exercises 
were  interrupted  by  the  demoniac  and  the  con- 
sequent act  of  Jesus  in  casting  out  the  unclean 
spirit,  and  the  people  dispersed  in  astonishment, 
without  waitincr  for  the  usual  benediction. 

Jesus  had  already  called  Peter  and  Andrew, 
James  and  John,  the  two  pairs  of  brothers,  from 
their  fishing  boats  and  nets  to  be  his  disciples 
and  to  become  "  fishers  of  men,"  and  now,  ac- 
cepting an  invitation  from  the  two  elder  breth- 
ren, he  goes  to  the  house  of  Simon  Peter  for 
the  Sabbath  meal,  which,  according  to  Josephus, 
was  usually  eaten  at  the  sixth  hour,  or  twelve 
o'clock.  The  dwellinof  which  he  entered  is  called 
by  St.  Matthew  ''the  house  of  Peter,"  by  St. 
INIark,  '*  the  house  of  Simon  and  Andrew,"  and 
by  St.  Luke,  "  the  house  of  Simon."  The  two 
latter  evangelists  speak  of  Peter  (i.e.,  rock), 
surnamed  thus  by  our  Lord  after  his  memorable 
confession  of  him  as  "  the  Christ,"  by  his  earlier 
Syriac  name  of  Simon  (i.e.,  hearer). 

St.  Mark,  who  wrote  under  the  special  direc- 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         II9 

tion  of  St.  Peter,  and  who,  therefore,  In  the  facts 
concerninor  hini,  wrote  with  orreater  minuteness 
of  detail,  says  that  the  building  was  ''the  house 
of  Simon  and  Andrew,"  as  If  It  was  the  joint 
property  of  the  sons  of  Jonas,  or  at  least  occu- 
pied by  the  families  of  each. 

Here,  then,  was  the  home  of  the  two  first- 
called  apostles.  There  is  nothing  to  Indicate 
whether  it  was  large  or  small,  well  or  poorly 
furnished,  in  a  prominent  or  a  retired  part  of 
the  town.  All  that  we  know  with  certainty  of 
their  worldly  condition  Is  that  they  were  fisher- 
men, that  they  owned  one  of  the  fleet  of  fishing- 
smacks,  or  small  vessels,  which  sailed  on  the 
lake,  that  they  owned  a  dwelling  in  Capernaum, 
that  Peter  was  a  married  man,  that  Peter's  wife's 
mother  was  living  with  them,  that  they  extended 
their  plain  hospitality  to  Jesus  by  asking  him  to 
take  his  mid-day  Sabbath  meal  with  them,  that 
they  included  James  and  John  In  this  Invitation, 
and  that  our  Lord  rewarded  their  hospitality  by 
a  miracle  of  mercy  to  the  sick  mother-in-law  of 
Peter. 

We  Infer  from  St.  Mark's  record  that  Jesus 
was  not  informed  of  the  sickness  of  Peter's 
wife's   mother  until  after   he   had  gone  to  the 


120  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

house,  for  he  says,  *'  He  entered  Into  the  house 
of  Simon  and  Andrew, . . .  and  anon  they  tell  him 
of  her."  She  was  "  laid,"  or  prostrate,  thrown 
down,  on  a  bed,  "  sick  of  a  great  fever."  From 
the  term  translated  "  great,"  by  which  St.  Luke, 
himself  a  physician,  characterizes  this  fever,  fol- 
lowing therein  the  distinction  made  by  Galen 
and  the  Greek  physicians  of  "great"  and 
"small"  fevers,  we  Infer  that  the  sickness  was  a 
high  grade  of  Syrian  fever,  such  as  Is  often  met 
with  at  this  day  In  those  regions,  and  which  was 
frequently  and  rapidly  fatal.  No  sooner  Is  he 
Informed  of  her  Illness  than  he  goes  to  her 
room,  and  standing  by  her  bed,  takes  her  hand, 
rebukes  the  fever,  gently  lifts  her  up  (for  all 
these  acts  are  hinted  at  by  the  several  writers), 
and  Immediately  the  fever  left  her  and  she  arises 
well  and  strong.  The  healino-  medicine  here 
was  Christ's  rebuklno^  word  to  the  fever.  This 
word  "rebuked"  Is  surely  worthy  of  special  no- 
tice here,  for  It  Implies  the  presence  of  some 
hostile  power  and  the  rebuking  or  turning  back 
that  power  by  a  superior  and  controlling  power. 
The  word  Is  the  same  as  that  used  In  quelling 
the  storm  upon  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  when  It  is 
said,  "  Then  he  arose  and  rebuked  the  wind  and 


777^  FIRST  SABBATH  TV  CAFERNAUM.         121 

the  sea,  and  there  was  a  great  calm."  In  the 
case  of  the  stormy  sea  there  was  a  great  tem- 
pest above,  together  with  the  raging  of  the 
water  dashing  over  the  ship,  and  the  rebuke 
was  couched  in  the  words,  "  Peace,  be  still." 
The  immediate  subsidence  of  winds  and  waves 
into  "a  ofreat  calm"  showed  how  obedient  these 
powers  of  nature,  even  in  their  wildest  and 
most  furious  state,  are  to  their  Lord  and  Master, 
and  how  he  makes  them,  as  servitors  of  his  will, 
do  his  bidding  and  submit  to  his  sway.  Just  so 
with  one  tempest-tossed  with  a  raging  fever, 
restless,  delirious,  so  that  the  whole  surface  of 
his  being  is  furrowed  with  the  waves  of  pain  as, 
like  successive  billows,  they  roll  over  the  system 
in  the  exacerbations  of  fever.  The  rebuke  of 
Jesus  to  the  assailing  fever,  this  boisterous  and 
disturbing  power,  "Peace,  be  still,"  hushes  at 
once  its  violence,  breaks  at  once  its  force,  drives 
away  at  once  its  pain,  restores  at  once  the 
poised  mind,  the  steady  will,  the  strong  limbs, 
the  quiet  heart. 

The  results  of  this  beneficent  act  of  Jesus 
were  immediate :  ''  the  fever  left  her."  But  it 
did  not  leave  her,  as  fevers  ordinarily  do,  with  an 

exhausting  weakness  after  the  artificial  strength 
11 


122  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

of  the  febrile  attack.  It  did  not  leave  her  pros- 
trated in  the  contest,  requiring  care,  nursing, 
food,  in  order  to  build  up  the  system  and  repair 
the  wasted  strength  through  the  usual  process 
of  slow  convalescence,  for  we  are  told  that  not 
only  did  the  fever  leave  her,  but  ''  she  arose  and 
ministered  unto  them."  She  proved  the  sound- 
ness and  the  quickness  of  her  recovery  by  at 
once  doing  the  personal  services  which  the  rites 
of  hospitality  required.  Thus  the  word  of  Christ 
not  only  rebuked  the  fever,  but  Invoked  health, 
not  only  banished  pain  and  suffering  and  weak- 
ness, but  infused  strength,  activity  and  all  ma- 
tronly energy.  It  was  a  double  miracle.  Jesus 
had,  perhaps,  never  been  under  that  roof  before, 
yet  what  a  blessing  he  brought  to  that  house ! 
and  how  the  miracle-healed  mother  must  have 
rejoiced  that  her  son-in-law  was  the  professed 
disciple  of  Him  who  could  command  not  only 
the  wind  and  the  waves,  but  diseases  and  devils, 
and  they  obey  him  ! 

This  narrative  Is  also  Interestlnof  as  it  IncI- 
dentally  brings  out  two  facts :  first,  that  the 
apostle  Peter  was  a  married  man.  It  was  his 
"  wife's  mother  "  that  was  healed.  If  Peter,  the 
head  of  the  college  of  the  apostles,  the  ''  Rock  '* 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         1 23 

on  which,  as  so  many  contend,  the  Lord  biiilded 
his  Church,  the  "founder,"  as  is  claimed  by  self- 
styled  infallibilists,  of  "the  Church  of  Rome," 
from  whom  the  pope  derives  his  power  of  the 
keys,  and  up  to  whom  he  traces  his  ecclesias- 
tical lineage, — if  Peter  could  be  married,  and, 
as  St.  Paul  says  (i  Cor.  ix.  5),  "Lead  about  a 
wife,"  surely  his  successors  may  do  the  sam.e, 
for  they  are  not  more  pure  and  holy  than  he, 
and  to  forbid  any  to  do  it,  is  to  forbid  what 
our  Lord  himself  countenanced  and  approved. 
.  The  second  fact  is,  that  by  his  presence  in  that 
house,  and  by  his  miracle  wrought  there  under 
those  circumstances,  he  evinced  his  approval  of 
the  marital  state  in  which  he  found  his  servant 
Peter.  If  Jesus  had  disapproved  of  marriage 
and  of  marriage  feasts,  would  he  have  wrought 
his  "beofinninor-  of  miracles"  to  enhance  the 
pleasure  of  a  bridal  banquet?  and  if  Jesus  had 
disapproved  of  his  ministers  having  wives  and 
desired  them  to  be  celibates,  would  he  have  ac- 
cepted the  hospitality  of  a  married  apostle  and 
wrought  a  miracle  to  heal  his  wife's  mother? 
Most  certainly  not. 

But  the  work  of  the   day  is   not  yet  over. 
The  Jewish  style  of  reckoning  was  from  sunset 


124  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

to  sunset,  hence  the  Sabbath  ended  with  the 
ooniof  down  of  the  sun.     The  strictness  which 

o  o 

till  that  hour  had  been  so  scrupulously  observed 
was  then  relaxed,  and  works  might  be  done  then 
which  It  w^ould  have  been  unlawful  to  do  an 
hour  before.  But  thouoh  the  solemn  observ- 
ances  of  the  day  were  over,  yet  the  sacred  influ- 
ence of  the  Sabbath  still  lingered,  as  did  the 
twilight  of  the  Sabbath  sun,  and  while  strictness 
was  relaxed,  hallowed  feelings  and  words  still 
llnorered  above  the  horizon  which  had  hid  the 
setting  Sabbath.  So  soon,  therefore,  as  this 
hour  arrived,  we  find  that  all  Capernaum  is  astir. 
The  streets  are  being  filled,  and  the  throngs  are 
directing  their  steps  tow^ard  Peter's  house.  But 
what  a  strange  motley  of  people  !  Not  only  the 
usual  elements  of  a  crowd,  the  young  and  old, 
man  and  v;oman,  the  higher  and  the  lov/er 
classes,  the  rude  and  the  refined,  but  see !  there 
is  one  mother  carrying  in  her  arms  a  sick  infant, 
there  is  a  person  leading  a  blind  man,  there  is  a 
litter  borne  by  two  persons  on  which  lies  a  pa- 
tient deathly  sick,  there  is  a  group  struggling  to 
get  along  with  them  a  raving  maniac,  there  is  a 
helpless  paralytic  carried  by  his  friends,  there 
goes  the  cripple  slowly  crawling  over  the  rough 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.        I  25 

pavement.  What  a  strange  congregation  of 
sick  and  diseased  and  maimed  and  deaf  and 
dumb  and  blind  and  epileptic  and  demonized 
persons,  yet  all  eager,  all  anxious,  all  with  faces 
set  toward  one  spot !  What  means  this  unusual 
sight,  never  before  seen  in  that  city  ?  Why  this 
o^atherinor  to  the  house  of  this  fisherman  ?  It  is 
because  Jesus  is  there.  They  have  heard  of  his 
mornincf  miracle,  thev  have  caucyht  rumors  of 
other  wondrous  works,  they  recognize  among 
them  the  presence  of  One  who  can  do  what  hu- 
man love  and  tenderness,  human  physicians  and 
surgeons,  cannot  do,  and  they  come  In  crowds, 
some  to  ask  his  help  for  themselves  and  friends, 
and  others  prompted  by  curiosity  to  see  whether 
or  no  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth  can  do  what  report 
says  he  has  done  in  other  places ;  and  so  it  came 
to  pass,  as  St.  Mark  has  it,  "All  the  city  was 
gathered  too-ether  at  the  door." 

Nor  were  they  gathered  in  vain.  The  Lord 
Jesus  goes  out  to  them  as  they  crowd  the  streets 
and  open  spaces,  and  passing  from  one  to  an- 
other, lays  his  hands  on  every  one — not  one 
overlooked — and  heals  them  all.  He  also  cast 
out  many  devils  "with  his  word,"  who,  as  they 

came   out  of  their   victims,   cried    out,   saying, 
11* 


126  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

''  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  but  Jesus 
rebuked  them  and  suffered  them  not  to  speak, 
for  they  knew  that  he  was  Christ;"  and  he  was 
not  wiUIng  that  their  impure  tongues  should 
proclaim  his  holy  mission,  lest,  in  the  perverted 
minds  of  those  who  were  ever  seekinor  occasion 
to  denounce  him,  the  testimony  of  these  unclean 
spirits  to  his  person  and  mission  might  mar  the 
work  which  he  came  to  accomplish. 

What  a  Sabbath  eveninor  scene  was  that !  As 
one  after  another  was  healed  and  stood  up  in 
the  full  flush  of  -health,  as  the  cripple  walked,  as 
the  blind  saw,  as  the  dumb  spake,  as  the  crook- 
ed was  made  straight,  as  the  paralytic  became 
strong,  as  the  sick  were  made  well,  how  each  In 
turn  must  have  added  to  the  common  stock  of 
joy,  each  caused  fresh  wonder  to  the  gaping 
crowd,  each  observed  the  exhaustless  fullness 
of  healing  grace  which  showed  Itself  as  strong 
in  castinor  out  the  last  devil  as  in  curinof  the  first 
fever !  The  shadows  of  the  evening  crept  over 
the  surrounding  hills,  the  short  but  lovely  \xA- 
light  had  departed,  and  the  stars  looked  down 
and  classed  themselves  in  the  mirror-like  lake 
below  them,  before  the  loving  work  of  Jesus  was 
over,  and  there  remained  not  a  sick  or  demoniac 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         12/ 

person  In  that  whole  city  of  Capernaum  except 
such  as  may  have  refused  to  go  to  Jesus.  Who 
can  tell  the  joy  that  Jesus  thus  sent  into  many 
hearts  and  many  homes?  Who  can  measure 
the  sorrow  and  the  suffering  which  thus,  at  a 
word,  he  drove  away  ?  and  as  the  citizens  after 
such  intense  excitement  settled  themselves  to 
their  nightly  sleep,  they  must  have  wondered  at 
the  marvelous  change  which  one  short  hour  had 
wrought  in  their  social  life,  leaving  not  a  sick 
person  to  be  watched  over  or  cared  for,  but  all, 
without  exception,  could  lie  down  in  health  and 
sleep  in  peace,  because  the  great  Healer  had 
scattered  broadcast  his  blessings  and  taken 
away  the  long-existing  evils,  and  given  freely, 
without  money  and  without  price,  life,  health 
and  soundness  of  mind  and  body  to  all  who 
sought  his  healing  power. 

St.  Matthew  gives  the  keynote  to  this  whole 
transaction  when  he  adds  to  his  account  of  it 
these  remarkable  words :  "  That  it  might  be  ful- 
filled which  was  spoken  by  Esaias  the  prophet, 
saying.  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and  bare 
our  sicknesses."  The  words  of  Isaiah  (liii.  4), 
in  our  English  version,  are,  "Surely  he  hath 
borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows."    The 


128  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

chapter  in  which  these  words  occur  is  one  of  the 
most  touchingly  Messianic  of  all  his  prophecies. 

From  the  be£rinninor  to  the  end  the  one  theme 
is  the  Messiah — Messiah  rejected,  Messiah  suf- 
fering, Messiah  in  his  vicarious  redemption, 
Messiah  the  sin-bearer,  Messiah  conquering  and 
Messiah  in  final  triumph. 

The  words,  as  originally  uttered,  evidently 
had  a  double  meaning,  referring  primarily  to 
Christ's  bearing  away  or  carrying  away  our  sins, 
an  act  typified  by  the  scapegoat  on  the  great 
day  of  atonement,  when  the  selected  victim, 
having  had,  as  it  were,  laid  upon  his  head  by 
the  imposition  of  the  high  priest's  hands  "  all 
the  sins  of  the  children  of  Israel"  which  they 
had  before  confessed,  was  given  over  to  the 
hand  of  a  special  messenger  to  be  led  away  into 
the  wilderness,  ''  into  a  land  not  inhabited,"  and 
was  there  let  loose.  Thus  symbolically  the 
scapegoat  bore  away  the  sins  of  the  people. 
All  this  was  a  figure  of  Christ,  the  true  sin- 
bearer,  to  whom  all  the  types  of  the  Levitical 
ritual  pointed,  and  who  alone  "bore  away"  our 
sins. 

Isaiah  uses    the  words,  "griefs,"  "sorrows," 
putting  the  effect   for  the  cause.     Sin   always, 


^ 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         I  29 

however  sweet  at  the  first  taste,  brings  eventual 
grief  and  sorrow,  and  the  root  of  every  grief 
and  sorrow  that  afflicts  man  is  sin.  St.  Mat- 
thew appHes  it  to  another  form  of  sin's  doings, 
and  still,  like  Isaiah,  putting  the  effect  for  the 
cause,  says,  after  the  wondrous  putting  forth  of 
healing  power  on  that  Sabbath  evening,  ''  Him- 
self took  our  infirmities  and  bare  our  sick- 
nesses." Sin  brings  in  infirmities  and  sickness. 
There  is  not  a  cause  of  human  sufferinof  that 
does  not  find  its  origin  in  sin,  and  it  is  the  mani- 
fold and  wide-branching  results  of  sin  which 
cover  the  earth  as  with  sackcloth,  which  fill  It 
v/ith  sick  bodies  and  diseased  souls,  which  make 
It  a  vast  lazar-house  of  infirmity  and  woe.  It  is 
all  sin's  work.  Its  fruit.  Its  wages. 

The  taking  away  of  these  physical  effects  of 
sin — an  act  beyond  all  human  power — proved 
that  he  could  take  away  sin  Itself,  the  parent  of 
this  progeny  of  disease  and  death. 

Our  Lord  himself  appeals  to  this  in  the  case 
of  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy,  for  when  the 
scribes  objected  to  his  saying  to  the  paralytic, 
"  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,"  charging  him  with 
speaking  blasphemies  and  declaring  that  God 
only  can  forgive  sin,  Jesus  simply  adds,  "  But 


130  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

that  ye  may  know  that  the  Son  of  man  hath 
power  on  earth  to  forgive  sin,  he  saith  to  the 
sick  of  the  palsy,  I  say  unto  thee,  arise  and  take 
up  thy  bed,  and  go  thy  way  into  thine  house." 
As  if  he  had  said.  You  challenge  my  right  to 
forgive  sin,  you  accuse  me  of  blasphemy  in  say- 
ing what  I  did,  because  it  is  the  sole  preroga- 
tive of  God  to  forgive  sin.  I  will,  therefore, 
prove  to  you  that  I  have  the  power  to  forgive 
sins,  and  that  I  am  not,  as  you  think,  a  blas- 
phemer, by  giving  immediate  cure  to  this  para- 
lytic confessedly  beyond  the  reach  of  all  human 
skill,  and  the  imxmediate  response  to  the  word 
of  Jesus  by  the  paralytic,  now  no  longer  crip- 
pled with  palsy,  but  suddenly  starting  up  Into 
full  health,  was  the  divine  attestation  and  cre- 
dential of  his  power  to  forgive  sin. 

In  a  secondary  sense,  therefore,  when  Jesus 
took  away  the  resulting  evils  of  sin,  he  did  fulfill 
a  prophecy  which  foretold  that  he  should  "  bear 
our  griefs  and  carry  our  sorrows,"  so  that  St. 
Matthew  might  in  truth  say,  "  Himself  took  our 
infirmities  and  bare  our  sicknesses." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  healing  power 
which  our  Lord  exercised  In  and  around  Peter's 
house  was  also  accompanied  with  deep  personal 


^ 


THE   FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         I3I 

consciousness  of  the  evil  of  sin  as  thus  worklnof 
'  out  these  sad  results,  and  with  intense  compas- 
sion for  those  afflicted  with  the  grievous  mala- 
dies. These  two  feelings,  a  consciousness  of 
the  full  evil  of  sin  and  a  true  sympathy  with  the 
sufferer  from  sin,  blended  in  one  strong  emo- 
tion, must  have  weighed  heavily  upon  the  ten- 
der and  holy  heart  of  Jesus,  and  burdened  his 
spirit  with  a  grief  too  deep  for  human  compre- 
hension. It  was  not  with  him  a  cold,  mechanical 
bestowal  of  healing  power.  In  the  giving  out  of 
which  he  was  an  impassive  agent.  He  did  not 
regard  himself  as  a  walking  battery  of  vital 
forces,  needing  only  a- physical,  tactual  applica- 
tion, to  receive  the  energizing  and  health-beget- 
ting influence,  but  in  all  his  acts  and  works  we 
everywhere  discover  that  he  weeps  with  those 
who  weep,  mourns  v/Ith  those  who  mourn,  re- 
joices with  those  who  rejoice,  brings  his  heart 
in  living  contact  with  other  hearts,  and  touches 
all  the  faculties  and  affections  of  the  soul  by  the 
manifestations  of  his  sympathetic  spirit. 

"  He  realized,  as  no  one  else  ever  did,  the 
law  of  all  true  helping,  namel}^  that  the  burden 
which  you  v/ould  lift  you  must  yourself  stoop  to 
and  come  under  (Gal.  vi.  2),  the  grief  which  you 


132  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

would  console  you  must  yourself  feel  with ;  a 
law  which  we  witness  to  as  often  as  we  use  the 
words  ''sympathy"  and  "compassion"  was  tru- 
est of  all  in  him  upon  whom  the  help  of  all  was 
laid.  Not  in  this  single  aspect  of  his  life  alone 
were  these  words  of  the  prophet  fulfilled,  but 
rather  in  the  life  itself,  which  brought  him  in 
contact  with  the  thousand  forms  of  want  and 
woe,  of  discord  in  man's  outer  life,  of  discord  in 
man's  inner  being.  Every  one  of  these,  as  a 
real  consequence  of  sin,  and  at  every  moment 
contemplated  by  him  as  such,  pressed  with  a 
living  pang  into  the  holy  soul  of  our  Lord.  "  He 
could  therefore  heal  neither  bodily  nor  spiritual 
disease  without  a  deep  consciousness  of  his  spe- 
cial relation  to  man  as  the  Substitute,  the  Re- 
deemer, the  Lamb  of  God,  who  was  to  bear  the 
penalty  of  the  world's  guilt.  And  it  is  not,  we 
believe,  too  much  to  suppose  that  by  a  super- 
human and  perfect  compassion  he  took  into  his 
own  holy  consciousness  and  truly  realized  the 
bodily  as  well  as  the  spiritual  suffering  which  he 
removed  from  others." 

What  an  ennobling  idea  does  this  give  us  of 
the  height  and  depth  and  length  and  breadth  of 
our  Lord's  compassion  !     How  beautifully  does 


THE  FIRST  SABBATH  IN  CAPERNAUM.         1 33 

It  Interpret  those  heart-soothing  words,  "We 
have  not  a  high  priest  which  cannot  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  Infirmities,  but  was  In  all 
points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin," 
and  those  other  words,  ''  For  verily  he  took  not 
on  him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  he  took  on  him 
the  seed  of  Abraham.  Wherefore  In  all  things 
It  behooved  him  to  be  made  like  unto  his  breth- 
ren,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high 
priest  In  things  pertaining  to  God.  For  in  that 
he  himself  hath  suffered,  being  tempted,  he  is 
able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted." 

"  When  gathering  clouds  around  I  view, 
And  days  are  dark  and  friends  are  few, 
On  Him  I  lean  who  not  in  vain 
Experienced  every  human  pain  ; 
He  feels  my  griefs,  he  sees  my  fears, 
And  counts  and  treasures  up  my  tears." 

Such  is  the  record  of  the  first  Sabbath  of  our 

Lord  at  Capernaum,  full  of  holy  words,  whose 

power  thrilled  hundreds  of  hearts ;  full  of  holy 

deeds,  whose  healing  effects  reached  hundreds 

of  the  sick  and  the  possessed  of  devils  ;  and  the 

personal  presence  of  Jesus  speaking  these  holy 

words,  and  doing  these  wondrous   deeds,  and 

diffusing  these  marvelous  blessings,  made  that 

Sabbath  the  most  noted  day  ever  known  In  the 

history  of  that  city. 
12 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    SABBATH    AT    THE 

BETHESDA. 


POOL     OF 


"After  this  there  was  a  feast  of  the  Jews;  and  Jesus  went  up  to 
Jerusalem.  Now  there  is  at  Jerusalem  by  the  sheep  market  a  pool, 
which  is  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  Bethesda,  having  five  porches. 
Ill  these  lay  a  great  multitude  of  impotent  folk,  of  blind,  halt,  withered, 
waiting  for  the  moving  of  the  water.  For  an  angel  went  down  at  a 
certain  season  into  the  pool,  and  troubled  the  water :  \vhosoever  then 
first  after  the  troubling  of  the  water  stepped  in  was  made  whole  of  what- 
soever disease  he  had.  And  a  certain  man  was  there,  which  had  an 
infirmity  thirty  and  eight  years.  When  Jesus  saw  him  lie,  and  knew 
that  he  had  been  now  a  long  time  in  that  case,  he  saith  unto  him,  Wilt 
thou  be  made  whole  ?  The  impotent  man  answered  him,  Sir,  I  have 
no  man,  when  the  water  is  troubled,  to  put  me  into  the  pool :  but  while 
I  am  coming,  another  steppeth  down  before  me.  Jesus  saith  unto  him. 
Rise,  take,  up  thy  bed,  and  walk.  And  immediately  the  man  was  made 
whole,  and  took  up  his  bed,  and  walked  :  and  on  the  same  day  was  the 
sabbath.  The  Jews  therefore  said  unto  him  that  was  cured,  It  is  the 
sabbath  day:  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  carry  thy  bed.  He  answered 
them.  He  that  made  me  whole,  the  same  said  unto  me.  Take  up  thy 
bed,  and  walk.  Then  asked  they  him.  What  man  is  that  which  said 
unto  thee,  Take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk  ?  And  he  that  was  healed  wist 
not  who  it  was :  for  Jesus  had  conveyed  himself  away,  a  multitude 
being  in  that  place."   John  v.  1-13. 

N   reference  to  the  opening  verse  of 
this  chapter,  Chrysostom  says,  "Jesus 
went  up  to  the  feast  at  Jerusalem  to 
show  his  reverence  for  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in 

134 


SB 

1 

n  itufiin  I'l     i*yiaii,!'!i'ij,„j|:':! 


tr' 
K 


THE   SABBA  TH  AT  BE  THESDA.  I  3  5 

order  to  preach  to  the  multitudes  then  assem- 
bled there."  Certainly  he  never  lost  an  oppor- 
tunity of  "preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,"  and 
ever  availed  himself  of  casual  events  and  way- 
side scenes  to  do  o:ood  to  the  souls  and  to  the 
bodies  of  men.  This  is  illustrated  by  his  Sab- 
bath work  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda.  This  pool 
or  reservoir  was  situated  near  St.  Stephen's 
gate — the  old  sheep-gate — and  just  outside  of 
the  northern  wall  of  the  Haram  Area.  There 
was  evidently  a  spring  or  fountain  here,  which 
for  sanitary  purposes  had  been  converted 
into  a  large  tank  by  excavating  and  building 
around  it  with  solid  masonrv,  so  as  to  hold  a 
large  supply  of  water.  On  the  border  of  this 
pool  were  erected  colonnades  or  porches,  con- 
sistinof  of  several  archwavs  or  cloisters,  for  the 
use  and  enjoyment  of  those  frequenting  that 
attractive  spot. 

It  seems  that  the  popular  opinion  was,  as  the 
legend  recorded  in  the  fourth  verse  shows,  that 
at  a  certain  season  an  angel  troubled  the  water, 
and  then  whosoever  first  stepped  in  afterward 
was  healed  of  whatsoever  disease  he  had.  This 
pool  was  resorted  to,  therefore,  by  multitudes  of 
impotent  folk,  of  blind,  halt,  withered,  "waiting 


136  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

for  the  movinof  of  the  waters."  That  this  was 
the  common  beUef  among  the  Jews  cannot  be 
denied.  What  grounds  there  were  for  it  we  do 
not  know,  though  the  legend  must  have  had 
some  basis  or  root  out  of  which  the  widespread 
superstition  as  to  the  angeHc  troubUng  and  heal- 
ing grew. 

There  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  authenticity  of 
this  fourth  verse,  founded  on  the  fact  that  the 
words  are  not  found  in  some  verv  old  and  im- 
portant  manuscripts  and  versions,  and  hence  by 
those  who  reject  the  verse  it  is  supposed  to  be 
the  interpolation  of  a  transcriber,  who  incor- 
porated into  the  sacred  text  what  was  origin- 
ally only  a  marginal  gloss  of  a  commentator 
explaining  the  healing  virtue  of  the  water  by 
statine  the  current  legend  of  the  troublino;  of 
it  by  the  angel  who  periodically  bathed  in  its 
waters. 

Thou  eh  the  absence  of  this  verse  from  some 
first-class  manuscripts.  Uncial  as  well  as  Cursive, 
casts  some  suspicion  on  its  genuineness,  yet  there 
is  ereat  weight  of  evidence  on  the  other  side, 
and  the  words  are  found  in  copies  of  the  gospel 
in  the  time  of  Tertullian,  and  are  quoted  as 
canonical  Scripture  by  some  of  the  earliest  and 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BE  THE  SB  A.  I  3/ 

most  cautious  of  the  Christian  Fathers.  The 
presence  or  absence  of  this  verse,  however,  has 
little  to  do  with  the  narrative  of  the  miracle,  as 
it  only  accounts  for  the  poor  infirm  man  being 
where  he  was  and  for  so  long  a  time.  The  mir- 
acle which  our  Lord  wrought  rests  not  upon  that 
verse,  and  hence  its  omission  or  retention  does 
not  affect  the  divine  transaction. 

The  traditional  pool  of  Bethesda,  called  the 
Birket  Israil^  is  now  in  ruins.  Its  once  capa- 
cious basin  Is  nearly  filled  with  rubbish,  its  once 
populous  colonnades  are  now  fallen,  and  only  two 
so-called  porches  or  arched  recesses  are  visible. 
But  its  locality,  its  proportions,  its  surroundings, 
seem  to  indicate  that  that,  and  not,  as  some  sup- 
pose, the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  outside  of  the 
gate,  in  the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  is  the  real 
pool  of  Bethesda  by  the  sheep-gate  or  market 
mentioned  by  St.  John. 

The  objection  made  by  some  to  the  state- 
ment that  only  one  person  was  healed  after 
each   troublinor  of  the   water   does  not  neces- 

o 

sarily  militate  with  the  reception  of  the  verse, 
because  it  does  not  say  how  often  that  "  cer- 
tain season  "  was  at  which  the  angel  went  down 
into   the  pool,  and  it  may  have    been   once  a 


138  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

month,  or  once  a  week,  or  at  irregular  but  yet 

numerous  times,  so  that  during  the  year  a  score 

or  more  persons  might  have  been  thus  healed. 

Besides,  is  not  the  fact  as  it  is  recorded,  like 

many  other  of  God's  providential  dealings  with 

his  people  ?     Had  not   our  Lord  a  little  while 

before,  in   his   discourse   in   the   Synagogue  at 

Nazareth,    mentioned    two    almost     analogous 

cases   of  God's   sovereignty  in   the  disposition 

of    his    gifts    of    grace    and    healing?     "Many 

widows  were  in    Israel    in    the    days  of   Elias, 

when  the  heaven  was  shut  up  three  years  and 

six  months,  when  great  famine  was  throughout 

all  the  land ;  but  unto  none  of  them  was  Elias 

(Elijah)  sent  save  unto  Sarepta,  a  city  of  Sidon, 

unto  a  woman  that  was  a  widow.     And  many 

lepers  were    in    Israel    in    the  time  of  Eliseus 

(Elisha)    the   prophet,   and   none   of  them  was 

cleansed    saving    Naaman    the    Syrian."      God 

thus  gives   or  withholds  at  his    pleasure,  with 

or  without  human  or  angelic  instrumentalities, 

and  none  can  say.  What  doest  thou  ?  or  question 

his  right  to  do  what  he  will  with  his  own  gifts 

of  healine  or  of  erace ;   and  our  Lord  himself, 

be  it  remembered,  only  healed   one   of  all   the 

multitudes  which  lay  there.     Besides,  this  was 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHESDA.  I  39 

a  period  In  the  Jewish  history  when  angehc 
Interpositions  and  miracles  were  looked  for, 
and  did  actually  occur;  and  by  them,  Infre- 
quent as  they  were,  the  minds  of  the  people 
w^ere  made  conversant  w^th  them,  were  pre- 
pared to  receive  them,  and  the  more  readily 
accredited  the  truths  or  facts  they  were  de- 
slo^ned  to  herald  or  attest. 

The  attempt  of  some  commentators  to  take 
the  healing  efficacy  of  the  waters  out  of  the 
category  of  miracles,  and  attribute  It  to  mere 
medicinal  qualities  In  the  spring,  such  as  are 
found  In  the  chalybeate  or  sulphur  or  other 
mineral  springs  In  our  day,  not  only  conflicts 
with  the  words  of  the  text,  but  suggests  the 
unanswerable  questions.  If  the  healing  virtue 
lay  in  the  medicinal  character  of  the  water, 
why  were  not  all  \\\\o  stepped  Into  It  healed  ? 
Why  was  It  restorative  only  at  certain  seasons  ? 
Why  exhaust  Its  efficacy  on  one  case  ? 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  scene  which  presented 
itself  to  our  Lord  on  that  Sabbath  morning. 
On  his  way  to  the  temple  he  had  to  pass 
Bethesda.  In  its  many  porches  he  saw  "a 
great  multitude  of  Impotent  folk,  of  blind,  halt, 
withered,  waltlncr  for  the  moving  of  the  water." 


140  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

There  were  no  hospitals  then  where  the  sons 
and  daiiorhters  of  sickness  could  be  housed  and 
cared  for.  Those  who  had  money  or  friends 
might  receive  due  attention,  but  the  poor  and 
the  friendless  crawled  into  the  streets  or  open 
places  of  the  city,  or  lay  along  the  highway,  ob- 
jects of  pity  and  compassion,  begging  alms,  im- 
ploring relief,  exhibiting  their  sores  and  deform- 
ities, and  indebted  to  the  passing  stranger  for  the 
daily  sustenance  of  a  wretched,  homeless  life. 
We  see  much  of  this  at  the  present  time  in 
the  East.  It  is  a  calamity  to  be  sick  anywhere — 
to  be  blind  or  halt  under  any  the  most  favorable 
circumstances ;  but  to  be  diseased  and  have  no 
hand  of  friendship  to  mitigate  your  suffering, 
to  be  blind  or  deaf  or  dumb  or  paralytic  and 
have  no  commiseration  of  kindly  companionship, 
to  be  left  all  broken  down  in  body  and  mind 
to  grope  along  life's  pathway  halting,  stum- 
bling, suffering,  dying,  with  no  word  of  com- 
fort and  no  arm  of  succor, — oh,  this  Is  wretch- 
edness indeed !  This  the  climax  of  sorrow ! 
Christ's  conduct  toward  the  sick  and  the  afflicted 
has  given  birth  to  all  the  hospitals  and  asylums 
and  benevolent  Institutions  of  the  world.  They 
are  the  outo^rowth  of  the  words  and  the  deeds 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHESDA.     ■  I4I 

of  Jesus.  But  for  them  the  world  would  be 
now  what  It  was  before  the  advent  of  Christ, 
without  a  hospital  or  an  asylum  or  a  reforma- 
tory or  any  association  banded  together  to  dis- 
pense relief  or  comfort  to  the  needy  and  the 
disconsolate. 

The  world  owes  all  the  brio-htness  of  its  be- 
nevolence  and  the  glory  of  Its  great  eleemosy- 
nary institutions,  and  the  lofty  compassion  that 
rules  the  minds  of  thousands,  and  the  grand 
philanthropy  that  sees  In  every  hum^an  face  "  a 
brother,"  and  In  every  wayside  sick  man  a 
"neighbor,"  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

All  this  Is  his  work — a  work,  too.  Incidental  to 
his  higher  work,  though  necessarily  flowing  out 
of  that,  for,  as  that  love  which  brought  him  to 
eardi  to  be  man's  redeemer  was  infinite,  so  Its 
overflowings  to  the  sinful  and  unworthy,  even  to 
those  who  will  not  receive  his  offered  salvation, 
are  fraught  with  copious  blessings,  diffusing  their 
virtue  throuo^h  that  network  of  Christian  be- 
nevolence  which  now  spreads  Its  meshes  over 
all  classes  and  conditions  and  makes  all  whom 
It  can  reach  the  objects  of  Its  benedictions. 

The  sight  of  so  much  misery  as  grouped  It- 
self within  the  porches  of  Bethesda  excites  our 


142  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Lord's  compassion,  and  he  pauses  to  look  upon 
the  heart-sickenuig  scene.  Conversing,  per- 
haps, with  one  and  another,  he  finds  a  poor 
cripple  who  ''  had  an  infirmity  thirty  and  eight 
years,"  one  who  in  answer  to  our  Lord's  question, 
"Wilt  thou  be  made  whole?"  told  Jesus,  "Sir, 
I  have  no  man  when  the  water  is  troubled  to 
put  me  into  the  pool,  but  while  I  am  coming  an- 
other steppeth  down  before  me."  The  question 
which  our  Lord  asked  of  this  man,  "Wilt  thou 
be  made  whole  ?"  was  put,  not  because  he  did 
not  know  the  desires  of  this  man,  but  in  order, 
doubtless,  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  man  to 
himself  as  one  unusually  interested  In  his  case, 
and  also  to  rouse  up  perhaps  the  almost  extinct 
hopes  of  the  man,  in  whom,  after  thirty  and 
eight  years  of  suffering,  there  remained  but  lit- 
tle anticipation  of  effectual  relief.  He  wanted 
to  concentrate  the  man's  thoughts  and  looks 
upon  himself  as  preliminary  to  the  putting  forth 
of  divine  healing,  just  as  he  asked  the  blind  man, 
on  another  occasion,  "  What  will  ye  that  I  shall 
do  unto  you?"  There  must  be  a  felt  need  of 
outward  help  on  the  part  of  the  recipient  of 
Christ's  favor,  so  as  to  make  the  favor  received 
recognized    as    a    divine    interposition.     When 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHESDA.  1 43 

jesus  had  broucrht  this  infirm  man  to  this  state 
of  conscious  need  and  expectance  of  some  kind 
of  blessing  (for  he  must  have  read  the  premoni- 
tion of  it  in  Jesus'  benevolent  face  and  kindly 
words),  he  said  to  him,  "Rise,  take  up  thy  bed, 
and  walk."  Instead  of  stopping  to  say,  "  Sir, 
have  I  not  just  told  thee  that  I  cannot  rise,  that 
if  moved  at  all  it  must  be  by  the  help  of  others, 
and  that  this  is  the  very  reason  why  I  cannot 
avail  myself  of  the  troubled  waters  ?"  as  he 
might  have  done,  he  makes  the  effort  to  obey 
the  divine  mandate  "  Rise,"  and  in  the  effort  finds 
the  strength,  waiting  not  until  it  consciously 
comes  before  he  puts  it  forth,  but  in  the  act  of 
obedience,  finds  the  power  to  obey.  And  so  the 
poor  impotent  cripple,  who  had  not  walked  per- 
haps for  thirty-eight  years,  who  was  so  utterly 
poor  and  helpless  that  he  could  not  command 
the  services  of  a  man  to  put  him  into  the  pool, 
and  who  was  thus  perhaps  rendered  as  hopeless 
as  he  was  helpless,  now  stands  erect,  to  the 
wonder  of  all  around  him.  He  took  up  the- 
pallet,  or  rug,  on  which  he  had  been  so  long 
lying,  and  walked  forth  in  perfect  soundness  of 
health  and  limbs.  The  chanore  was  immediate. 
It  was   not  the   current  of  returnino;  strenorth 


144  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

flowing  first  into  one  member  of  the  body  and 
giving  motion  to  that,  and  then  into  another, 
swelKnor  out  its  lonsf-withered  muscles,  but  it 
was  an  instantaneous  chano^e,  brinmnof  with  it 
the  full  and  complete  restoration  of  every  physi- 
cal power  to  that  emaciated,  shriveled,  weak- 
ened, crippled,  helpless  body.  One  moment  an 
object  of  intense  pity  by  reason  of  his  intensi- 
fied infirmity,  the  next  standing  up  stalwart  and 
strong  in  all  the  freshness  and  fullness  of  reju- 
venated life ! 

One  would  have  thouoht  that  such  a  marked 
manifestation  of  divine  powder  would  have  called 
forth  admiration  at  the  deed  of  Jesus,  and  that 
he  would  have  been  praised  for  his  abounding 
mercy.  But  whatever  may  have  been  its  effect 
on  some,  on  others  it  had  the  effect  of  arousing 
opposition  ;  and  unable  to  find  fault  with  Jesus 
for  speaking  a  healing  word,  they  turned  upon 
the  healed  man  and  accused  him  of  breakinof  the 
Sabbath  because,  at  the  command  of  Christ,  ''he 
took  up  his  bed  and  walked."  The  wonder  at 
the  miracle  is  lost  in  the  pharisaic  hypocrisy  of 
zeal  for  the  Sabbath,  and  hence  the  Jews  said 
unto  him  that  was  cured,  "  It  is  the  Sabbath 
day:  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  carry  thy  bed." 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHESDA.  1 45 

According  to  the  strict  construction  of  the 
fourth  commandment,  and  accordine  to  the  di- 
rections  of  Nehemiah  (xiii.  19)  and  Jeremiah 
(xvii.  21,  et  seq.),  ''to  bear  no  burden  on  the 
Sabbath  day,"  it  was  true  that  the  man  was 
breaking  the  Sabbath  by  carrying  a  "burden," 
even  his  bed,  on  that  day.  But  this  declaration 
of  these  Sanhedrists,  or  persons  connected  with 
the  supreme  council  of  the  Jews  (for  it  is  to 
these  that  St.  John  refers  when  he  uses  the 
term  ''Jews"),  is  a  very  narrow  and  carping 
view  to  take  of  that  commandment.  It  was 
evidently  a  cover  under  which  to  attack  Jesus 
himself,  as  it  subsequently  comes  out  in  the  six- 
teenth verse,  where  the  apostle  says,  "Therefore 
did  the  Jews  persecute  Jesus,  and  sought  to 
slay  him,  because  he  had  done  these  things  on 
the  Sabbath  day."  How  intense  must  their 
bigotry  have  been,  when  it  made  them  blind  to 
the  wondrous  miracle  and  keen-sicrhted  as  to  a 
supposed  breaking  of  the  traditions  of  their 
fathers !  failing  to  recognize  the  blessing  vouch- 
safed in  the  desire  to  find  fault  with  the  eracious 
Giver. 

The  reply  of  the  healed  man  is  at  once  sim- 
ple and  conclusive :  "  He  that  made  me  whole, 

13  K 


146  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

the  same  said  unto  me,  Take  up  thy  bed,  and 
walk."  In  his  mind,  evidently,  the  authority 
which  could  work  the  cure  was  quite  sufficient 
authority  for  his  carrying  his  bed.  Foiled  here, 
they  turn  upon  the  man  again  and  ask,  ''What 
man  is  that  which  said  unto  thee  take  up  thy 
bed,  and  walk  ?"  The  animosity  of  the  Jews 
leaks  out  here  in  the  suppression  of  all  allusion 
to  the  work  of  mercy,  and  in  dwelling  only  on 
the  declared  infraction  of  the  law.  They  ask, 
not,  "  What  man  is  that  which  made  thee  whole 
that  we  may  see  and  admire  so  gracious  a 
being?"  Oh  no  !  they  doubtless  knew  very  well 
who  It  was,  and  were  only  concerned  to  fix  on 
Jesus  the  charge  of  breaking  the  Sabbath.  It 
seems  not  a  little  remarkable,  on  first  thought, 
that  the  once  impotent  man  did  not  know  who 
had  healed  him.  One  would  have  supposed 
that  receiving  so  great  a  boon  he  would  at  least 
have  Inquired  the  name  of  the  giver,  but  In  the 
flush  and  excitement  of  his  cure,  the  sudden  In- 
flux Into  his  almost  hopeless  mind  of  so  unex- 
pected a  blessing,  he  forgot,  as  It  were,  all  the 
proprieties  of  gratitude,  and  he  was  more  anx- 
ious to  realize  his  new-found  strength  by  at  once 
doing  what  he  was  told,  take  up  his  bed  and 


THE   SABBA TH  AT  BE THESDA.  1 47 

walk,  than  to  delay  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaln- 
inof  who  was  his  benefactor.  The  man  was  evi- 
dently  bewildered  by  the  tumultuous  emotions 
which  then  filled  his  mind,  as  we  can  easily  im- 
am ne  what  a  whirl  there  would  be  in  our  feel- 
inors  under  similar  circumstances.     It  must  be 

o 

remembered,  also,  that  before  the  man  could 
recover  from  his  astonishment  and  collect  his 
thoughts,  "Jesus  had  conveyed  himself  away,  a 
multitude  being  in  that  place."  The  working 
of  a  miracle  in  so'  public  a  spot  necessarily 
drew  a  large  crowd  together,  and  Jesus,  unwill- 
ing to  remain  in  their  midst,  glided  away,  avail- 
ing himself  of  the  excitement  to  pass  quickly 
through  the  multitude,  and  went  onward  to  the 
house  of  God.  Thus  he  did  not  stop  long 
enough  to  let  the  healed  man  show  his  gratitude 
or  learn  his  true  character. 

Afterward  the  two,  the  Healer  and  the  healed, 
stand  together  again.  They  are  in  the  temple. 
The  Healer  on  his  mission  of  grace,  the  healed, 
doubtless,  to  give  thanks  for  his  cure.  But  the 
latter  does  not  recognize  the  former,  and  not 
until  Jesus  speaks  to  him  does  he  ascertain  who 
it  was  that  had  healed  him. 

The  purpose  of  Jesus  in  finding  him  in  the 


I4S  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

temple  was  to  let  the  man  know  his  benefactor, 
and  specially  to  give  him  warning  for  the  future. 
"Behold,"  says  our  Lord,  ''thou  art  made  whole. 
Sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come  unto 
thee." 

In  these  words  there  Is  a  clear  recoo^nition  of 
the  fact  that  the  man's  long  infirmity  was  the 
result  of  his  youthful  sins.  This,  in  one  sense, 
is  true  of  all  sickness  and  suffering ;  they  result 
from  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  our  physical 
being,  and  he  who  sins  against  these  laws  sins 
against  God  their  author,  and  violation  of  law 
always  exposes  to  punishment.  How  frequently 
do  we  see  in  daily  life  this  truth  sadly  worked 
out  in  the  lives  of  the  sick  and  the  suffering ! 
How  much  force  of  meaning  is  thus  given  to 
that  expression  of  the  law  of  the  perpetuating 
of  evil,  "  Thou  makest  me  to  possess  the  iniqui- 
ties of  my  youth"  (Job  xiii.  26),  and  that  other 
declaration  of  Job,  "His  bones  are  full  of  the 
sin  of  his  youth"  (xx.  ii)!  For  medical  men 
will  tell  us  with  one  voice  that  the  larger  part 
of  the  maladies  of  the  human  family  are  the  re- 
sults of  youthful  excesses  and  indiscretions,  the 
open  or  secret  violations  of  the  laws  by  which 
God  had  hedged  in  and  protected  our  health 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BE  THE  SB  A.  1 49 

and  happiness,  but  which  passion,  self-indul- 
gence, waywardness,  had  caused  us  to  break 
through,  reaping  at  the  time,  perhaps,  no  Imme- 
diate evil  from  our  transgressions,  but  yet  cer- 
tainly laying  up  In  store  future  evils  that  would 
surely  vindicate  the  broken  law. 

This  truth  has  forced  Itself  even  upon  heathen 
minds.  Cicero,  In  his  "  De  Senectute,"  not  only 
tells  us  that  the  loss  of  strength  Is  more  fre- 
quently the  fault  of  youth  than  of  old  age,  but 
he  adds  that  a  youth  of  sensuality  and  Intem- 
perance transmits  to  old  age  a  worn-out,  used- 
up  body. 

The  author  of  Lacon  (Colton),  when  he  says 
that  ''  the  excesses  of  youth  are  bills  drawn  by 
Time,  payable  thirty  years  after  date,  with  Inter- 
est," only  paraphrases  the  terse  Latin  proverb 
that  we  pay  when  old,  for  our  sins  when  young. 

Even  when  a  man  repents  of  his  sins  and  be- 
comes a  new  creature  In  Christ  Jesus,  breaking 
off  from  all  former  Indulgences,  he  does  not 
thereby  secure  Immunity  from  the  operation  of 
this  law ;  for  while  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ 
saves  the  soul.  It  does  not  repair  the  wastes  and 
Inroads  upon  the  body  which  sin  has  already 
made.     The  vices   which  had  undermined  the 

13* 


150  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

constitution  before  he  became  a  Christian  still 
show  the  gaps  and  weakness  of  It,  even  after 
he  becomes  a  child  of  God  through  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

These  thoughts  are  borne  out  by  that  other 
declaration  of  God's  word,  "  His  own  iniquities 
shall  take  the  wicked  himself,  and  he  shall  be 
holden  with  the  cords  of  his  sin."  We  suffer 
for  our  own  misdoings  even  on  earth.  We  braid 
together  by  the  strands  of  our  little  and  almost 
unnoticed  youthful  sins,  the  cords  which  bind  us 
so  tightly  about  with  pain  and  discomfort  and 
remorse  in  middle  life  or  old  as^e.  It  is  retribu- 
tive  justice  finding  us  out  on  earth,  and  by  its 
chastenings  warning  us  to  immediate  repent- 
ance, to  flee  from  the  deeper  and  more  en- 
during wrath  that  will,  if  unrepenting,  overtake 
us  in  the  world  to  come. 

And  then  again  these  words  of  Jesus,  "Sin  no 
more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come  unto  thee,"  imply 
that  to  sin  afresh,  after  receiving  signal  mer- 
cies, is  but  to  incur  more  grievous  judgment. 
Surely  it  was  a  bad  thing  that  thirty  and 
eight  years  of  this  cripple's  life  had  been  made 
full  of  pain  and  misery,  and  had  been  rendered 
utterly  useless  by  reason  of  his  early  sins ;  but 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHESDA.  151 

bad  as  was  that  almost  life-long  suffering, 
wretched  and  des^raded  as  he  had  become 
through  helplessness  and  poverty,  there  was  a 
''worse  thing"  yet  in  reserve  if  he  again  went 
back  to  his  sins,  "like  a  sow  that  was  washed 
to  her  wallowing  in  the  mire."  For  in  sinning 
afresh,  after  receivinof  crreat  blessin^-,  the  man 
commits  a  twofold  wronof :  he  icrnores  the  bless- 

o  o 

ings  received  from  their  divine  Author,  and  in 
spite  of  warnings,  breaks  away  into  new  trans- 
gressions. Hence  the  moral  force  which  he 
must  necessarily  put  forth  to  do  these  things,  in 
spite  of  blessings,  in  spite  of  warnings,  in  spite  of 
the  lashings  of  conscience,  gives  to  him  such  an 
impetus,  such  a  momentum,  as  it  were,  that  he 
is  carried  beyond  all  his  former  bounds  of  guilt, 
and  finds  himself  in  new  fields  of  sin,  and 
under  a  deeper  spell  of  evil.  This  truth  our 
Lord  illustrated  with  startling  force,  and  in  a 
manner  which  should  awaken  most  serious  con- 
sideration, when  he  speaks  of  the  cast  out 
devil  returninor  aj^ain  to  the  house  whence  he 
was  ejected.  "When  he  cometh  back,"  saith 
our  Lord,  "he  findeth  it  empty — swept  and 
garnished ;  then  goeth  he  and  taketh  to  himself 
seven    other  spirits   worse   than   the   first,  and 


152  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

they  enter  in  and  dwell  there,  and  the  last  state 
of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  first."  We 
cannot  too  often  call  to  mind  these  truths.  Let 
us  never  forget  that  much — yea,  probably  (could 
we  see  the  subtle  connection),  all — of  our  pains 
and  sicknesses  are  directly  or  indirectly  the 
result  of  our  sins  or  the  sins  of  our  parents. 
"  However  unwilling  we  may  be  to  receive  this, 
brineine,  as  it  does,  God  so  near,  and  makinor 
retribution  so  real  and  so  prompt  a  thing,  yet  it 
is  true  notwithstanding.  As  some  eagle  pierced 
with  a  shaft  feathered  from  its  own  wing,  so 
many  a  sufferer  even  in  this  present  time  sees 
and  is  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  his  own 
sin  fledged  the  arrow  which  has  pierced  him 
and  brought  him  down."  Historv,  sacred  and 
profane,  abounds  with  illustrative  instances  of 
this  truth,  and  each  one  can  perhaps  find  still 
further  confirmation  in  the  experiences  of  his 
own  life. 

As  soon  as  the  rhan  ascertained  the  name 
of  his  benefactor,  he  "departed  and  told  .the 
Jews  that  it  was  Jesus  who  had  made  him 
whole."  Not  as  a  heartless  wretch  wishing  to 
betray,  but  as  a  grateful  man  anxious  to  make 
known   the   name  and  fame  of  Him  who   had 


THE    SABBA  Til  AT  BE  THE  SB  A .  I  5 


') 


clone  so  great  things  unto  him.  The  effect  of 
this  communication  so  stirred  up  this  priestly 
party  that  they  manifested  at  once  a  hatred 
which  eagerly  sought  to  catch  him  and  slay  him 
'*  because  he  had  done  these  things  on  the 
Sabbath  day." 

According  to  the  Levltical  law  (Ex.  xxxl.  14, 
Num.  XV.  35),  the  penalty  of  breaking  the  Sab- 
bath was  death  by  stoning.  They  regarded  Jesus 
as  having  broken  the  Sabbath,  and  hence  "  they 
sought  to  slay  him."  But  the  violator  of  the 
Mosaic  law  could  only  be  stoned  to  death  judi- 
cially— /.  e.,  after  a  fair  trial — and  the  witnesses 
of  his  oruUtwere  to  be  the  first  to  cast  the  death- 

o 

dealing  stones.  But  the  power  of  life  and  death 
had  been  taken  away  from  the  Jews  by  their 
Roman  masters,  and  as  the  rulers  confessed  to 
Pilate,  "  It  Is  not  lawful  for  us  to  put  any  one  to 
death."  What  these  enraged  "Jews"  wanted 
was,  to  wreak  their  vengeance  on  Jesus,  whose 
words,  whose  works,  whose  life,  was  a  daily  re- 
proach to  them,  a  constant  galling  of  their  pride, 
their  presumption,  their  pretended  piety ;  and 
unable  to  brook  his  reproaches  or  to  turn  away 
the  people  from  following  him,  they  determined, 
if  possible,  by  any  means  to   get   rid  of  him. 


154  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

There  could  be  no  peace  to  the  scribes  and 
the  Pharisees  while  he  was  alive.  His  very 
presence  revealed  all  their  darkness  and 
iniquity,  just  as  the  presence  of  light  makes 
visible  all  the  foul  and  noisome  things  upon 
which  it  shines.  Their  rage  had  been  excited 
aeainst  him  from  the  time  he  made  a  scourore 
of  small  cords  and  cleansed  the  temple  by 
driving  out  of  it  the  sheep  and  oxen  and  the 
money-changers,  and  denouncing  them  as 
havinof  made  his  "  Father's  house  a  den  of 
thieves."  From  that  hour  their  rancor  knew 
no  bounds.  They  hunted  diligently  for  evi- 
dence to  convict  him  of  some  o-reat  crime. 
They  cared  not  what  it  was  If  it  would  only 
secure  his  destruction.  Hence  they  sent 
Herodians  "to  entangle  him  in  his  talk"  that 
they  might  accuse  him  to  Herod  of  political 
crime  ;  and  hence  by  artful  ways  they  sought  to 
brine  him  into  conflict  with  the  orreat  Sanhedrim 
that  that  powerful  body  might  secure  from 
Pilate  his  longed-for  death.  This  was  the  spirit 
which  now  possessed  these  ''Jews,"  and  under 
the  influence  of  which  they  sought  to  slay  Him 
whose  daily  life  and  teaching  were  so  obnoxious 
to  them. 


THE   SABBA  TH  AT  BE  THESDA.  I  5  5 

Jesus  flinches  not  at  their  presence.  He 
boldly  confronts  them  and  meets  their  objections 
by  an  argument  of  the  most  dignified  and  pro- 
found character. 

This  vindication  of  himself  is  found  in  John 
V.  1 7-47.  Whether  spoken  on  the  Sabbath  day 
in  the  temple,  or  afterward  when  arraigned  per- 
haps before  the  lesser  Sanhedrim  on  the  judicial 
charge  of  breakinor  the  Sabbath,  we  cannot  tell. 
Whenever  or  wherever  uttered,  it  is  one  of 
Christ's  most  sublime  discourses,  and  constitutes 
a  thorough  defence  of  himself,  first  against  the 
charge  of  Sabbath-breaking  and  secondly  against 
the  subsequent  charge  growing  out  of  Jesus' 
refutation  of  the  first — viz.,  blasphemy,  "making 
himself  equal  with  God." 

As  to  the  first  charge,  of  breaking  the  Sab- 
bath, God  the  Father,  who  ordained  the  Sabbath 
to  commemorate  his  resting  on  the  seventh  day, 
not  from  fatigue,  but  from  active  creative  effort, 
"worketh  hitherto"  in  the  upholding  and  con- 
servinof  and  eovernine  the  world  which  he  made 
in  six  days,  and  thus  ceaselessly  doing  good  to 
all  his  creatures,  and  "  I,"  his  Son  in  all  the  divine 
fullness  which  that  relation  implies,  "work" — 
work  as  he  works  in  doincr  crood,  not  in  servile 


156  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

work  for  selfish  ends,  but  in  Godlike  works  for 
holy  ends ;  not  as  a  breaker  of  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath,  as  if  it  required  complete  passiveness 
and  abstinence  from  good  deeds  even,  but  as  a 
true  keeper  of  the  law  in  the  spirit  of  Him  who 
gave  the  law — a  spirit  of  ceaseless  benevolence 
and  love  flowing  out  in  active  blessings,  not  for 
six  days  and  then  ceasing,  but  on  the  seventh 
day  as  well  as  on  the  sixth,  because  the  work 
done  was  as  holy  as  the  day,  and  as  the  God 
who  did  it. 

This  line  of  defence,  placing  himself  as  "  equal 
with  God"  in  the  right  and  purpose  to  w^ork  as 
the  Father  worked,  so  far  from  being  accepted 
by  these  Judaists,  was  made  the  ground  of  the 
second  charge  against  him  of  blasphemy,  as 
thus  "making  himself  equal  with  God."  This 
second  charge  Jesus  quickly  meets  by  asserting 
his  equality  with  God  in  "work"  (verses  17,  19, 
20),  in  the  power  to  raise  the  dead  (v.  21),  in 
the  power  to  judge  the  world  (v.  22),  in  the 
honor  Vv^hich  it  behoved  men  to  bestow  (v.  23), 
in  the  power  to  give  eternal  life  (v.  26).  This 
claim  to  divine  Messiahship  by  doing  all  the 
w^orks  that  their  longed-for  Messiah  was  to  do, 
he  confirms  by  the  specific  testimony  of  John 


777^   SABBATH  AT  BETHESDA.  I  57 

the  Baptist  (v.  32-35),  the  testimony  of  Moses 
(v.  45-47),  the  testimony  of  all  the  scriptures 
(v.  39),  the  testimony  of  his  own  miraculous 
works  (v.  36-38),  and  in  the  witness  of  God  the 
Father  (v.  ^^1^. 

To  this  triumphant  and  unanswerable  vindica- 
tion of  himself,  the  Jews — the  spiritual  rulers 
of  the  people — could  give  no  reply.  John  the 
Baptist,  to  whom  they  had  appealed,  was  against 
them.  Moses,  In  whom  they  trusted,  was  against 
them.  The  Scriptures,  In  which  they  sought 
eternal  life,  were  against  them.  God,  whom 
they  claimed  as  their  Father,  was  against  them. 
Every  ground  of  opposition  to,  and  of  condem- 
nation of,  Jesus  was  taken  away  by  this  dis- 
course, and  there  remained  only  the  deadly  ani- 
mosity of  obdurate  hearts  and  rebellious  minds. 

They  who  accused  Jesus  are  now  accused  by 
him  for  their  lack  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, for  their  unwillingness  to  follow  the  lead 
of  Moses,  for  their  virtual  rejection  of  the  testi- 
mony of  John  the  Baptist,  and  for  their  keeping 
away  from  Christ,  the  source  of  all  spiritual  life 
and  light.  They  had  arraigned  him  at  their  tri- 
bunal ;  he  arraigns  them  at  his.  They  had  ac- 
cused him  of  deeds  worthy  of  temporal  death  ; 

14 


158  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

he  accuses  them  of  deeds  worthy  of  eternal 
death.  There  is  somethlnor-  sublime  in  this  atti- 
tude  of  Jesus  in  the  presence  of  his  accusers, 
quietly  turning  against  them  their  own  witnesses, 
convicting  them  of  the  very  crimes  which  they 
charged  ao^ainst  him,  showino^  himself  before 
them  by  many  infallible  proofs  as  their  Messiah, 
claiming  equality  with  God,  and  that  "  all  men 
should  honor  him,  even  as  they  honor  the 
Father."  Had  not  Jesus  been  divine,  this  lan- 
o-uaofe  would  have  been  the  most  insufferable 
arrogance  and  blasphemy,  but  he  was  *'  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh,"  and  hence  it  is  all  true, 
and  harmonizes  with,  and  illustrates,  both  the 
human  and  the  divine  in  the  redeeming,  the  me- 
diatorial and  the  judicial  work  of  Christ. 


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CHAPTER    VIII. 


THE  SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS. 


"  At  that  time  Jesus  went  on  the  Sabbath  day  through  the  corn ;  and 
his  disciples  were  ahungered,  and  began  to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn,  and 
to  eat.  But  when  the  Pharisees  saw  it,  they  said  unto  him,  Behold,  thy 
disciples  do  that  which  is  not  lawful  to  do  upon  the  Sabbath  day.  But 
he  said  unto  them,  Have  ye  not  read  what  David  did  when  he  was 
ahungered,  and  they  that  were  with  him;  how  he  entered  into  the 
house  of  God  and  did  eat  the  shewbread,  which  was  not  lawful  for  him 
to  eat,  neither  for  them  which  were  with  him,  but  only  for  the  priests? 
Or  have  ye  not  read  in  the  law,  how  that  on  the  Sabbath  days  the 
priests  in  the  temple  profane  the  Sabbath  and  are  blameless  ?  But  I 
say  unto  you.  That  in  this  place  is  one  greater  than  the  temple.  But 
if  ye  had  known  what  this  meaneth,  I  will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacri- 
fice, ye  would  not  have  condemned  the  guiltless.  For  the  Son  of  man 
is  Lord  even  of  the  Sabbath  day.  And  when  he  M'as  departed  thence, 
he  went  into  their  Synagogue."  Matt.  xii.  1-9. 

"  For  verily  I  say  unto  you.  That  whosoever  shall  say  unto  this  moun- 
tain. Be  thou  removed,  and  be  thou  cast  into  the  sea,  and  shall  not 
doubt  in  his  heart,  but  shall  believe  that  those  things  which  he  saith 
shall  come  to  pass,  he  shall  have  whatsoever  he  saith.  Therefore  I  say 
unto  you.  What  things  soever  ye  desire,  when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye 
receive  them,  and  ye  shall  have  them.  And  when  ye  stand  praying, 
forgive,  if  ye  have  aught  against  any,  that  your  Father  also  which  is  in 
heaven  may  forgive  you  your  trespasses.  But  if  ye  do  not  forgive, 
neither  will  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  forgive  your  trespasses. 
And  they  come  again  to  Jerusalem ;  and  as  he  was  walking  in  the  tem- 
ple, there  come  to  him  the  chief  priests,  and  the  scribes,  and  the  elders, 
and  say  unto  him.  By  what  authority  doest  thou  these  things  ?  and  who 
gave  thee  this  authority  to  do  these  things?"  Mark  xi.  23-2S. 

159 


l6o  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  second  Sal)bath  after  the  first,  that  he 
went  through  the  corn  fields;  and  his  disciples  plucked  the  ears  of 
corn  and  did  eat,  rubbing  them  in  their  hands.  And  cex'tain  of  the 
Pharisees  said  unto  them,  Why  do  ye  that  which  is  not  lawful  to  do  on 
the  Sabbath  days  ?  And  Jesus  answering  them  said.  Have  ye  not  read 
so  much  as  this,  what  David  did,  when  himself  was  ahungered,  and 
they  which  were  with  him;  how  he  went  into  the  house  of  God,  and 
did  take  and  eat  the  shewbread,  and  gave  also  to  them  that  were  with 
him,  which  it  is  not  lawful  to  eat  but  for  the  priests  alone?  And  he 
said  unto  them.  That  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath.'" 
Luke  vi.  1-5. 


HE  period  referred  to  by  the  opening 
sentence  of  St.  Matthew,  ''At  that 
time,"  was  when,  after  calHng  and 
commissioning  his  twelve  disciples  as  recorded 
in  the  tenth  chapter,  Jesus  "  departed  thence  to 
teach  and  to  preach  in  their  cities  " — i.  e.,  it  was 
during  one  of  his  missionary  circuits  among 
the  towns  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee. 

St.  Luke  marks  it  as  "the  second  Sabbath 
after  the  first,"  being  a  ''great  Sabbath,"  as  it 
was  the  first  Sabbath  "  of  a  year  that  stood  sec- 
ond in  a  sabbatical  cycle."  On  this  Sabbath 
day,  as  Jesus  and  his  disciples  passed  through 
the  corn-fields  (not  what  we  in  America  term 
such,  filled  with  maize  or  Indian  corn,  but  fields 
of  wheat  and  barley,  which  in  that  country  at 
that  time,  being  in  all  probability  about  the  first 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE    CORX-FIELDS.         l6l 

of  April,  were  then  just  ripening  into  harvest), 
his  disciples,  being  hungry,  "began  to  pluck  the 
ears  of  corn  and  did  eat,  rubbing  them  in  their 
hands  "  to  remove  the  husk.  This  it  was  lawful 
for  them  to  do,  for  the  direction  in  Deut.  xxiii. 
25  reads,  ''When  thou  comest  into  the  standing 
corn  of  thy  neighbor,  then  thou  mayest  pluck 
the  ears  with  thy  hand  ;  but  thou  shalt  not  move 
a  sickle  unto  thy  neighbor's  standing  corn."  In 
that  country,  it  must  be  remembered,  the  fields 
are  not  enclosed  with  fences,  as  with  us,  but  are 
separated  one  from  the  other  by  certain  stones, 
stakes,  ridges  or  ditches  which  constitute  the 
"  land-marks  "  of  the  several  owners.  The  ef- 
fect of  this  is,  to  make  a  whole  plain  or  valley, 
preceding  harvest-time,  appear  as  one  vast  un- 
enclosed field,  and  never  did  that  verse  of  Da- 
vid's In  which  he  says,  in  order  to  indicate  fer- 
tility and  luxuriance,  "The  valleys  also  stand  so 
thick  with  corn  that  they  shall  laugh  and  sing  " 
(Ixv.  13,  Pr.  Bk.  vers.),  come  out  to  our  mind 
with  such  pastoral  beauty  as  when,  looking  down 
over  the  large  corn-fields  just  waiting  for  the 
sickle,  we  saw  them  rollinof  to  and  fro  in  the 
wind  with  that  billowy  motion  which,  like  a  glee-= 
ful  smile,  dimpled  and  rippled  over  the  waving 


1 62  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

p-raln,  while  the  rusdlnof  of  the  stalks  and  leaves 
swaying  in  the  breeze  rose  up  like  the  voice  of 
sineine.  To  this  harmless  act  of  our  Lord's 
disciples,  and  done  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying 
their  hunger,  the  Pharisees  objected  because 
done  on  the  Sabbath  day. 

One  of  the  laws  of  the  Pharisees,  as  subse- 
quently embodied  in  the  Talmud,  was,  *'  He  that 
reapeth  corn  on  the  Sabbath  to  the  quantity  of 
a  fig  is  guilty;  and  plucking  corn  is  as  reaping, 
and  whosoever  plucketh  up  anything  growing  is 
guilty  under  the  notion  of  reaping." 

In  reply  to  this  pharisaical  objection,  our  Lord, 
justifies  the  act  of  his  disciples  In  what  they  did 
by  citing  cases  and  principles  which  entirely  set 
aside  their  rigorous  literalism,  and  placed  the 
day  and  its  observance  on  their  true  basis. 
"  Have  ye  not  read,"  he  asks,  "  what  David  did 
when  he  had  need  and  was  anhungered,  and 
they  that  were  with  him,  how  he  went  into  the 
house  of  God  in  the  days  of  Abiathar  the  high 
priest,  and  did  take  and  eat  the  shewbread  which 
is  not  lawful  to  eat  but  for  the  priests,  and  gave 
also  to  them  that  were  with  him  ?"  The  refer- 
ence here  is  to  the  transaction  recorded  in 
I   Samuel  xxi.  i,  et  seq.,  when   David,  fleeing 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS.  1 63 

from  the  persecution  of  Saul,  went  to  the  sacer- 
dotal city  of  Nob,  situated  in  the  tribe  of  Benja- 
min, and  there  begged  of  the  high  priest  the 
shewbread  (the  ''bread  of  faces"  as  it  was 
called)  for  himself  and  hungry  companions. 

The  shewbread  consisted  of  twelve  cakes  or 
loaves  made  of  fine  flour  and  set  ''  in  two  rows, 
six  on  a  row,  upon  the  pure  table  before  the 
Lord,  and  thou  shalt  put  pure  frankincense  upon 
each  row  that  it  may  be  on  the  bread  for  a  me- 
morial, even  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the 
Lord.  Every  Sabbath  he  shall  set  it  in  order 
before  the  Lord  continually.  And  it  shall  be 
Aaron's  and  his  sons',  and  they  shall  eat  it  in 
the  holy  place,  for  it  is  most  holy  unto  him  of 
the  offerings  of  the  Lord  made  by  fire."  Lev. 
xxiv.  5-9.  At  the  time  of  the  weekly  renewal 
of  the  shewbread  the  incense  upon  each  row 
was  burned  before  the  Lord,  and  the  loaves 
were  eaten  by  the  priests  in  the  temple. 

It  was  this  shewbread,  just  removed  from  the 
table  to  give  place  to  the  fresh  and  hot,  which, 
in  his  extreme  necessity,  David  asked  for  and 
received,  and  of  which  he  and  his  hungry  men 
partook.  Though  ordinarily  unlawful  for  him  to 
eat  it,  as  he  was  not  of  the  Levitical  priesthood, 


164  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

yet  his  pressing  need  made  it  right  both  for  the 
priest  to  give  and  for  him  to  take  the  hallowed 
loaves,  because  it  was  better  to  prolong  life  and 
meet  the  Imperious  demands  of  hunger  at  the 
expense  of  a  ceremonial  law,  than  by  keeping 
the  law  of  sacrifice  subject  man  to  suffering,  and 
thus  break  the  higher  law  of  mercy. 

From  the  narrative  in  Samuel  we  may  rightly 
infer  that  It  w^as  on  the  Sabbath  that  David  and 
his  men  went  into  the  sanctuary  and  ate  this 
bread,  thus  intensifying  the  crime,  if  crime  it 
was;  but  our  Lord  showed  conclusively,  by  cit- 
ing this  case  with  approval,  that  neither  David 
nor  the  priest  had  violated  the  spirit  of  the  cere- 
monial law  in  the  transaction,  and  that  there 
were  human  necessities  which  rightfully  set  aside, 
all  Levltlcal  regulations. 

Rising  from  a  personal  and  exceptional  act, 
our  Lord  cites  another  case  of  a  general  charac- 
ter, where  the  apparent  violation  of  the  sabbatic 
law  is  done,  not  by  a  few  lay  people,  but  by  all 
the  priests ;  not  in  Nob  alone,  but  In  Jerusalem 
the  holy  city;  not  in  a  humble  Synagogue,  but 
in  the  Temple  itself,  and  that,  too,  in  the  very  act 
by  which  they  profess  to  worship  Jehovah. 

"  Or  have  ye  not  read  In  the  law  how  that  on 


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^Miliiiiitti^iii 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS.  1 65 

the  Sabbath  clays  the  priests  in  the  temple  pro- 
fane the  Sabbath  and  are  blameless  ?  But  I  say 
unto  you,  That  in  this  place  is  one  greater  than 
the  temple.  But  if  ye  had  known  what  this 
meaneth,  I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  ye 
would  not  have  condemned  the  guiltless." 

St.  Matthew  only  records  these  words  of  our 
Lord,  yet  they  are  most  significant  and  pungent 
in  their  bearing  on  the  question  before  him.  As 
if  he  had  said,  You  say  no  burdens  shall  be 
borne,  no  fire  kindled,  no  utensil  handled,  no 
manual  labor  performed,  yet  the  priests  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties  in  the  temple  carry  in 
wood,  lay  it  on  the  altar,  slay  the  victims,  kindle 
fires,  handle  the  sacrificial  knives,  carve  up  the 
offered  lambs  and  goats,  and  therefore,  accord- 
ing to  your  views,  profane  or  secularize  and 
make  unholy  the  Sabbath  ;  yet  you  say  that  they 
are  blameless,  for  the  maxim  of  the  Jews  in 
reference  to  this  very  temple-work  was,  that 
there  is  no  Sabbath  in  the  temple,  and  that  the 
temple  sanctified  the  work.  Indeed,  so  far  from 
remitting  labor  on  this  day  because  it  was  the 
Sabbath,  the  labor  was  doubled  by  reason  of  the 
double  sacrifices  which  were  required  by  the 
Levitical  law  (Num.   xxviii.   9,   10).     Yet  they 


1 66  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

"are  blameless,"  yourselves  being  judges,  for 
you  never  thought  of  arraigning  a  priest  as  a 
Sabbath-breaker  because  he  killed  and  flayed 
and  quartered  a  burnt- offering,  and  you  never 
thought  of  interdicting  the  temple-worship  be- 
cause it  required  double  toil  and  service  of  its 
ministers  on  the  seventh  day.  Now,  then,  if 
the  fact  that  these  works  are  blameless  because 
they  were  done  in  and  for  the  temple,  the  tem- 
ple thus  giving  sanctity  to  the  act,  so  I,  who  am 
here  with  you  "in  this  place,"  am  "greater  than 
the  temple,"  and  can  give  to  works  done  by  me, 
or  with  my  permission,  that  sanctity,  that  they 
shall  not  profane,  but  hallow,  the  Sabbath,  for 
being  done  by  or  for  me,  they  are  lifted  out  of 
the  level  of  secular  things  and  partake  of  the 
holiness  of  the  person  they  are  designed  to 
serve.  If  the  temple,  therefore,  makes  the 
priests  blameless,  I,  who  am  "greater  than  the 
temple,"  hold  my  disciples  blameless  ;  for  not 
only  have  they  done  no  more  than  David  did, 
satisfying  hunger  by  doing  what  was  technically 
and  traditionally  unlawful,  but  they  have  done 
their  works  as  the  priests  did  their  service,  for 
the  Lord  of  the  temple  himself,  now  standing 
before  you. 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS.  1 67 

To  understand  in  what  respect  Jesus  was 
"greater  than  the  temple,"  we  must  consider  a 
moment  what  the  temple  was  in  his  eye.  With- 
out eoine  into  the  structure  of  the  tabernacle  in 
the  wilderness,  or  the  temple  which  succeeded 
it,  and  which  loomed  up  like  a  cloud  of  glory  on 
Mt.  Moriah,  or  marking  their  numerous  typi- 
cal relations  to,  and  prefigurings  of,  Christ,  it  will 
suffice  to  say,  as  St.  Paul  does  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  (ix.  9-12),  that  it  "was  a  figure  for 
the  time  then  present,  in  which  were  offered 
both  gifts  and  sacrifices,  that  could  not  make 
him  that  did  the  service  perfect  as  pertaining  to 
the  conscience ;  which  stood  only  in  meats  and 
drinks,  and  divers  washings,  and  carnal  ordi- 
nances, imposed  on  them  until  the  time  of  refor- 
mation. But  Christ  being  come  an  high  priest 
of  good  things  to  come,  by  a  greater  and  more 
perfect  tabernacle,  not  made  with  hands,  that  is 
to  say,  not  of  this  building,  neither  by  the  blood 
of  goats  and  calves,  but  by  his  own  blood  he 
entered  in  once  into  the  holy  place,  having  ob- 
tained eternal  redemption  for  us."  The  temple, 
then,  in  its  structure,  its  ritual,  its  sacrifices,  its 
priests,  was  designed  to  present  to  the  eye  and 
mind  of  the  Jew  the  one  great  doctrine  of  the 


1 68  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

atonement  of  sin  through  vicarious  blood — viz., 
the  unforfeited  Hfe  or  blood  of  the  guiltless  and 
the  innocent,  shed  for  the  forfeited  life  or  blood 
of  the  guilty  and  the  sinning.  The  temple  was 
the  embodiment  of  this  atonlne  idea.  It  was 
God's  thought  of  mercy  to  man,  put  into  shape 
and  made  visible  before  the  nation  for  hundreds 
of  years  by  means  of  priest  and  sacrifice  and 
incense  and  holy  and  most  holy  place,  and  all 
the  rites,  personalities  and  buildings  which  made 
up  what  we  express  by  one  word,  "  the  temple." 
In  this  aspect  the  things  of  the  temple  were,  as 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  states,  ''  patterns  of 
things  in  the  heavens,"  ''figures  of  the  true," 
''  a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  and  not  the 
very  image  of  the  things."  But  Christ  was  the 
substance  which  forecast  this  shadow.  He  was 
the  antitype  of  which  these  earthly  structures 
and  emblems  were  "the  figures."  He  was  the 
original  of  that  of  which  the  temple  was  but  an 
imperfect  "  pattern."  Christ,  in  his  person  and 
his  work,  was  not  only  all  that  the  temple 
adumbrated,  but  infinitely  more.  Hence  he 
speaks  of  himself  as  a  "  temple "  in  that  pas- 
sage w^hich  so  puzzled  the  Jews,  "  Destroy  this 
temple,  and  in  three  days  will  I  raise  it  again," 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE   CORN-FIELDS.  1 69 

but  "he  spake  of  the  temple  of  his  body."  If 
the  temple,  then,  was  but  a  shadowing  forth  of 
what  the  Messiah  should  be  and  do,  the  Mes- 
siah who  was  thus  prefigured,  or  who  thus  cast 
this  shadow,  must  be  greater  than  the  temple, 
so  that  Jesus,  knowing  that  he  was  -the  Messiah 
and  having  declared  it  openly  in  his  conversa- 
tion with  the  woman  of  Samaria  at  Jacob's  well, 
could  truly  say,  as  he  stood  before  his  carping 
enemies,  ''  In  this  place  is  one  greater  than  the 
temple." 

If  those  who  served  on  the  Sabbath  about  the 
earthly,  the  material  temple,  did  so  and  Vv^ere 
blameless,  those,  therefore,  who  ministered  to 
and  about  him  the  living  Temple,  *'  greater  than 
the  temple"  which  sanctifies  priestly  service,  can 
supply  their  necessities,  and  make  themselves 
more  ready  to  discharge  their  duties,  and  also 
be  blameless. 

Jesus  then  tells  them,  ''  If  ye  had  known  what 
this  meaneth,  I  v\^Ill  have  mercy  and  not  sacri- 
fice, ye  would  not  have  condemned  the  guilt- 
less." This  Is  a  quotation  from  the  prophet 
Hosea  (vl.  6)  :  "  For  I  desired  mercy  and  not 
sacrifice,"  placing  the  higher  value  on  the  In- 
ward affection  of  the  heart  and  not  on  the  out- 

15 


170  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

ward  and  visible  act.  It  is  couched  in  one  of 
those  forms  of  Hebrew  nesfation  where  the  use 
of  the  negative  (not)  is  not  designed  to  express 
that  the  "sacrifice"  is  unnecessary  or  improper, 
but  to  intensify  that  with  which  sacrifice  is  con- 
trasted, "  mercy,"  and  to  show  that  in  the  com- 
parison of  the  two  "mercy"  will  take  the  su- 
premacy. Thus  "  sacrifice,"  good  in  itself,  or- 
dained by  God,  held  a  lower  place  in  God's  view 
than  "mercy,"  that  emotion  of  a  tender,  loving, 
considerate  soul. 

The  "  mercy  "  which  the  Pharisees  showed  was 
limited  to  external  acts — feeding  the  hungry, 
blowing  a  trumpet  before  them  when  they  gave 
alms,  and  such-like.  There  was  in  their  doing 
these  outward  and  visible  things  no  mercy,  for 
all  their  acts  were  done  "  to  be  seen  of  men ;" 
the  true  spirit  of  kindness  and  charity  Vv^as  ab- 
sent. So  our  Lord  says  to  these  Jews,  If  you 
had  only  known  this  truth  (brought  out  so 
clearly  by  Hosea  and  Micah,  vi.  6,  8),  you  would 
have  put  a  kindly  interpretation  on  this  act  of 
my  disciples,  and  not  treated  as  guilty  those 
whom  I  pronounce  guiltless.  It  is  the  absence 
of  this  spirit  among  Christians  now,  which  is 
productive  of  so  much  evil  and  faultfinding  and 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-EIELDS.  I/I 

dissensions.  It  is  this  spirit  of  legalism  ever 
striving  against  the  spirit  of  a  merciful  liberalism 
which  Is  doing  so  much  to  check  the  growth  of 
the  Church  and  bind  upon  the  conscience  "bur- 
dens grievous  to  be  borne,"  which  tithes  anise 
and  mint  and  cummin  and  neglects  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy  and  truth. 
It  Is  a  harsh,  technical,  faultfinding  spirit.  It 
looks  solely  to  "  the  letter  of  the  law  "  and  the 
outside  of  the  ceremonial.  But  the  law  of 
mercy  looks  at  the  state  of  the  heart,  and  busies 
Itself  more  about  the  aspect  of  the  soul  toward 
God  than  about  Its  appearance  toward  men. 
Micah  brlnQ^s  out  this  truth  with  ereat  force 
when  he  asks,  "  Wherewith  shall  I  come  before 
the  Lord  and  bow  m3^self  before  the  high  God  ? 
Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt- offerings, 
with  calves  of  a  year  old?  Will  the  Lord  be 
pleased  with  thousands  of  rams  or  with  ten 
thousands  of  rivers  of  oil  ?  Shall  I  give  my 
first-born  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my 
body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ?  He  hath  showed 
thee,  O  man  !  what  is  good ;  and  what  doth  the 
Lord  require  of  thee  but  to  do  justly  and  to  love 
mercy  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?" 
These  grand  utterances  of  the  old  prophet, 


172  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

seven  hundred  years  before  Christ,  find  thelr 
full  echo  and  response  In  the  equally  strong 
declaration  of  St.  Paul :  "  Though  I  speak  with 
the  toneues  of  men  and  of  anorels,  and  have  not 
charity  (that  inner  love  of  the  soul  out  of  which 
mercy  grows),  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass 
or  a  tinkling  cymbal ;  and  though  I  have  the 
gift  of  prophecy  and  understand  all  mysteries 
and  all  knowledge,  and  though  I  have  all  faith, 
so  that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and  have  not 
charity,  I  am  nothing.  And  though  I  give  all 
my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though  I  give 
my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  charity,  I 
am  nothine."  What  strides  onward  the  Church 
would  make  if  ministers  and  people  would  only 
cultivate  more  of  this  "mercy"  which  '' rejoiceth 
against  judgment,"  and  would  put  on  this  charity 
which  the  apostle  tells  us  ''  is  the  very  bond  of 
perfectness " !  for  mercy  would  assimilate  our 
character  to  that  of  God,  and  charity  (love)  is 
"  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." 

After  speaking  this  deserved  rebuke  to  these 
unmerciful  Pharisees,  our  Lord  enunciates  the 
truth,  "The  Son  of  man  is  Lord  even  of  the 
Sabbath  day."  This  assertion  is  recorded  by 
the  three  writers,  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke,  and 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS.         1/3 

nearly  in  the  same  words.  In  making  this  as- 
sertion he  wanted  his  hearers  to  know  that  he 
regarded  himself  as  ''  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath," 
and  could,  out  of  himself,  give  the  laws  which 
should  regulate  its  observance,  and  therefore 
that  nothincr  that  he  did  could  break  an  institu- 
tion  of  which  he  was  Lord  or  Ruler. 

St.  Mark  prefixes  this  declaration  with  an- 
other— viz.,  "The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man, 
not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  Judging  from  the 
pre-eminence  given  by  the  scribes  and  Pharisees 
to  the  fourth  commandment,  and  the  excessive 
care  shown  in  fencing  it  around  with  all  kinds 
of  restrictions,  so  that  the  memory  could  neither 
retain  them  nor  the  people  fully  observe  them, 
it  was  needful  that  our  Lord  should  take  just 
such  a  common-sense  view  of  the  Sabbath  as 
he  does  take  in  these  v/ords.  So  unjustly  had 
they  magnified  this  law,  not  only  out  of  propor- 
tion to  the  others,  but  in  contravention  of  the 
others,  that  they  declared,  "He  who  shall  duly 
observe  all  the  rites  and  customs  of  the  Sabbath 
shall  obtain  the  pardon  of  all  his  sins,  even 
though  he  hath  been  guilty  of  idolatry."  The 
Sabbath  was  thus  bound  hand  and  foot  in  the 
o^rave-clothes  of  stringent  traditions.     Its  oriof- 

C>  i>  o 

15  * 


174  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

inal  and  benignant  purpose  had  been  overlooked 

in  their  rabbinical  glosses,  and  it  was  time  that 

the  order  should  go  forth  from  the  Lord  of  the 

Sabbath,  '*  Loose  it  and  let  it  go,"  that  it  might 

stand  forth  untrammeled  by  the  swathings  and 

bandages  of  those  scribes  who  had  on  this,  as 

on  many  other  subjects,  taught  for  doctrines  the 

commandments   of  men,  and  thus  ''made  the 

word  of  God  of  none  effect  throuQ-h  their  tra- 

<_> 

ditions."  The  Sabbath,  or  a  rest  one  day  in 
seven,  was  made  and  ordained  by  God  for  man's 
physical,  mental  and  moral  good.  It  was  to 
give  him  rest  from  earthly  toils  and  cares,  and 
time  for  heavenly  thoughts  and  acts.  It  was  to 
be,  not  a  burden,  but  a  comfort.  It  was  to  be  a 
means  to  an  end;  that  end  man's  highest  earthly 
and  eternal  good.  "Wherever,  therefore,  the 
keeping  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  Avay  prescribed, 
instead  of  promoting  would  frustrate  that  end, 
it  was  more  honored  in  the  breach  than  in  the 
observance.  It  was  never  to  be  reo^arded  as 
itself  an  end.  Apart  from  the  physical,  social, 
moral  and  religious  benefits  to  be  thereby  real- 
ized, there  was  no  merit  in  painfully  doing  this 
one  thing,  or  rigorously  abstaining  from  that 
other.     The  Sabbath  was  made  to  serve  man. 


THE  SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS.  1 75 

but  not  man  to  serve,  or  be  a  slave  to,  the  Sab- 
bath. And  just  because  it  is  an  institution 
which,  when  rightly  used,  is  so  eminently  fitted 
to  minister  to  man's  present  and  eternal  good, 
the  Son  of  man,  who  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister  as  the  Head  of  our  hu- 
manity, to  render  to  it  the  greatest  of  all  ser- 
vices and  to  take  all  other  servants  of  it  under 
his  care  and  keeping,  would  show  himself  to  be 
''  Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath/' 

It  is  worthy  of  note  here,  in  passing,  that  with 
one  exception  (Acts  vii.  56),  our  Lord  only  speaks 
of  himself  as  the  "Son  of  man."  It  is  a  term 
used  by  none  of  the  apostles,  but  fifty  different 
times  by  Jesus  himself,  as  if  it  was  the  favorite 
title  by  which  he  would  designate  himself.  It  is 
a  name  which  the  prophet  Daniel  (vii.  13)  gives 
to  the  Messiah,  and  hence  was  a  name  recoe- 
nized  by  the  Jews  as  a  designation  of  the  Mes- 
siah. As  the  phrase,  "  Son  of  God,"  when  ap- 
plied to  Jesus,  meant  the  full  and  perfect  com- 
munication to  him  of  the  divine  nature,  with  all 
its  attributes  and  functions,  so  that  we  could 
truly  say  as  St.  Paul  does,  "  In  him  dwelleth  all 
the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,"  so  the 
phrase,  ''  Son  of  man,"  when  used  by  him,  indi- 


lyG  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

cated  the  full  and  perfect  communication  to  him 
of  the  human  nature,  with  all  its  attributes  and 
functions,  sin  only  excepted,  so  that  he  is  indeed 
"  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord  from  heaven."  In 
his  human  nature  he  *'  was  made  of  a  woman — 
made  under  the  law,"  "  for  verily  he  took  not 
on  him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  he  took  on  him 
the  seed  of  Abraham,  wherefore  In  all  things  it 
behoved  him  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren," 
and  he  was  therefore  m.ade  In  the  likeness  of 
men.  It  Is  a  term  that  thus  Identifies  Christ 
with  the  men  whom  he  came  to  save.  He  has 
taken  to  himself  our  humanity.  He  has  ex- 
alted and  glorified  It,  and  lifted  It  up  out  of  the 
depths  into  which  sin  had  degraded  It,  and 
brought  us  into  the  light  and  liberty  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God ; — while  it  also  shows,  that  as  the 
Son  of  man  he  was  the  hiorhest  and  fullest  em- 
bodlment  of  humanity — man  without  sin,  man 
perfectly  holy,  man  with  no  physical  defect,  no 
mental  idiosyncrasies,  no  class,  national  or  re- 
ligious prejudices ;  man  In  the  full,  rounded 
and  complete  development  of  all  his  mental  and 
moral  faculties,  Incorporating  In  himself  all  the 
glories  and  perfections  of  a  sinless  and  unfallen 
manhood ;   the  ideal  of  what  man  would  have 


THE     SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS.         1 7/ 

been  had  he  not  sinned ;  the  pattern  of  what 
man  ought  to  be  on  earth; — the  type  of  what  man 
will  be  In  the  heavenly  regeneration. 

As  "  the  Son  of  man  "  gathering  up  Into  him- 
self all  the  Interests  of  our  common  humanity 
and  ruling  over  everything  that  bore  upon  Its 
welfare  here,  and  destiny  hereafter,  he  had  the 
right  of  Lordship  and  sovereignty  over  an  In- 
stitution "made  for  man" — the  Sabbath — and 
hence  could  do  with  it  whatever  his  holy  will 
pleased  without  breaking  Its  sanctity  or  enfee- 
bling its  power.  He  Is  the  Arbiter  of  his  own 
ordinance,  the  interpreter  of  his  own  law,  and 
he  therefore,  by  the  bold  declaration  that  "  the 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man,"  reinstates  it  in  its 
primitive  design,  and  re-enforces  its  claims  by 
his  own  authority  and  example.  It  becomes  no 
longer,  under  this  interpretation  of  Jesus,  a  day 
of  burdensome  exactions  and  tedious  ceremo- 
nies, hampering  the  free  spirit  and  fettering 
every  natural  emotion  by  traditional  restrictions 
or  the  tightened  ligatures  of  pharisaic  formal- 
ism ;  but  it  is  made  a  day  of  joy,  of  freedom 
from  servile  work,  of  social  and  domestic  happi- 
ness, of  personal  and  private  communion  with 
God,  of  public  worship  with  the  assemblies  of 

M 


1/8  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

God's  people,  of  doing  works  of  mercy  and 
charity,  of  reading  and  meditating  on  God's 
word  and  works.  There  is  nothing  rigid  or 
straitlaced  about  it.  It  is  enfranchised  from 
all  Jewish  glosses,  and  man  is  called  upon  to 
use  and  enjoy  this  Sabbath  in  a  manner  that 
shall  at  once  glorify  and  honor  the  Lord  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  secure  the  highest  welfare  of  man 
for  whom  this  Sabbath  was  made. 

In  reference  to  what  is  called  the  Sabbath 
question,  we  should  ever  keep  these  two  cardi- 
nal facts  before  us,  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  that  the  Sabbath  was  made  for 
man. 

The  first  fact  being  true,  it  follows  that  we 
must  use  the  Sabbath  for  the  service  and  glory 
of  him  who  is  its  Lord ;  otherwise  we  fail  to 
recognize  his  Lordship  over  it,  and  set  at  naught 
his  divine  authority. 

It  follows  further  that  the  hours  of  the  Sab- 
bath are  Jesus'  special  gift,  and  we  must  do 
nothing"  in  its  hours  that  will  contravene  its  sa- 
credness,  such  as  appropriating  them  to  mere 
secular  purposes  or  the  advancement  of  secular 
ends. 

It  follows   still   further  that  the  example  of 


THE   SABBA  Til  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS.  1 79 

Christ,  in  so  far  as  it  is  applicable  to  us,  must 
be  our  pattern.  He  employed  its  hours  in  be- 
ing in  the  places  of  worship,  whether  Synagogue 
or  Temple,  where  he  happened  to  be  in  minis- 
tering to  the  sick  and  suffering;  in  preaching 
and  teaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  ;  in  con- 
soling the  afflicted,  and  in  partaking  of  the  so- 
cial hospitality  offered  to  him.  He  swept  away 
with  one  wave  of  his  hand  the  cumbrous  tradi- 
tions which  had  encrusted  themselves  about  this 
fourth  commandment,  and  because  he  did  so  he 
involved  himself  in  frequent  conflicts  with  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  judged  his  actions 
according  to  the  letter  of  their  traditions,  rather 
than  by  the  spirit  of  the  law  itself 

The  second  fact  being  true,  that  "the  Sabbath 
was  made  for  man,"  it  follows  that  man  ought 
to  regard  it  as  a  divinely  ordained  institution  for 
his  special  enjoyment  and  blessing.  It  is  an 
ordinance  indissolubly  bound  up  with  man's  best 
and  highest  interests.  It  was  made  to  give  him 
what,  but  for  this  day  of  rest,  he  would  not  have — 
a  periodical  remission  of  work,  a  periodical  sea- 
son of  worship.  It  is  a  day  for  him  to  put  the 
world  aside  and  bring  heaven  into  view ;  to  let 
the  body  rest,  that  the  soul  may  wing  its  way 


l80  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

upward  before  the  throne ;  that  soiled  and  be- 
grimed, as  it  were,  by  his  six  days*  work,  he 
might  wash  off  the  earthiness  from  his  spirit  and 
bring  his  heart  into  the  house  of  God,  to  hear 
the  word  of  God,  to  engage  in  the  worship  of 
God  and  to  Hsten  to  the  preaching  of  the  am- 
bassador of  God. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  tell  a  tithe  of  the 
blessings  which  result  to  man  from  a  riorht  en- 
joyment  of  this  Lord's  day.  Are  we  slaves  to 
business  all  the  week  ?  This  rest-day  enables  us 
to  stand  up  the  Lord's  freemen.  Is  our  mind 
all  the  week  immersed  in  worldly  cares  and 
studies  ?  On  this  rest-day  we  fling  open  the  win- 
dow of  the  soul  and  let  the  light  of  the  celestial 
city  stream  in  upon  it.  It  is  a  clay  which  comes 
to  us  laden  with  blessings.  It  brings  in  its  hands 
all  eood  thinors  and  all  lovable  thincrs  and  all 
holy  things  for  our  souls  and  for  our  bodies.  It 
offers  us  rest,  retirement,  spiritual  refreshment, 
a  feast  of  fat  things  in  God's  earthly  house.  It 
invites  us  to  holy  domestic  and  social  gatherings 
where  all  the  finer  and  nobler  feelings  of  our 
nature  can  have  free  exercise.  It  shuts  the  gate 
upon  the  world,  and  swings  open  for  a  time  the 
gate  of  pearl  that  we  may  look  in  upon  the  glo- 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE    CORN-FIELDS.  l8l 

ries  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  He  who  spends  the 
Lord's  day  In  a  manner  that  will  honor  the  Lord 
of  the  Sabbath  stands,  as  It  were,  In  the  ante- 
chamber of  heaven,  and  Is  thereby  becoming 
more  and  more  meet  for  the  Inheritance  of  the 
saints  In  llo^ht  and  for  "  the  rest  that  remalneth 

o 

for  the  people  of  God." 

16 


CHAPTER    IX. 

CHRIST   HEALING    THE    WITHERED   HAND 
IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE    ON  THE  SABBATH 


"  And  when  he  was  departed  thence,  he  went  into  their  Synagogue ; 
and,  behold,  there  was  a  man  which  had  his  hand  withered.  And  they 
asked  him,  saying,  Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Sabbath  days  ?  that  they 
might  accuse  him.  And  he  said  unto  them,  What  man  shall  there  be 
among  you  that  shall  have  one  sheep,  and  if  it  fall  into  a  pit  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  will  he  not  lay  hold  on  it  and  lift  it  out  ?  How  much 
then  is  a  man  better  than  a  sheep  ?  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  well 
on  the  Sabbath  days.  Then  saith  he  to  the  man.  Stretch  forth  thine 
hand.  And  he  stretched  it  forth,  and  it  was  restored  whole,  like  as  the 
other.  Tlien  the  Pharisees  went  out,  and  held  a  council  against  him, 
how  they  might  destroy  him."  Matt.  xii.  9-14. 

"  And  he  entered  again  into  the  Synagogue ;  and  there  was  a  man 
there  which  had  a  withered  hand.  And  they  watched  him,  whether  he 
woidd  heal  him  on  the  Sabbatli  day,  that  they  might  accuse  him.  And 
he  saith  unto  the  man  which  had  the  withered  hand,  Stand  forth.  And 
he  saith  unto  them,  Is  it  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  Sabbath  days,  or  to 
do  evil  ?  to  save  life,  or  to  kill  ?  But  they  held  their  peace.  And 
when  he  had  looked  round  about  on  them  with  anger,  being  grieved 
for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,  he  saith  unto  the  man.  Stretch  forth 
thine  hand.  And  he  stretched  it  out;  and  his  hand  was  restored  whole 
as  the  other.  And  the  Pharisees  went  forth,  and  straightway  took 
counsel  with  the  Herodians  against  him,  how  they  might  destroy  him." 
Mark  iii.  1-6. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  also  on  another  Sabbath  that  he  entered  into 

the  Synagogue  and  taught ;  and  there  was  a  man  whose  right  hand  was 

withered.     And  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  watched  him,  whether  he 

would  heal  on  the  Sabbath  day,  that  they  might  find  an  accusation 

1S2 


THE    WITHERED   HAND  HEALED.  1 83 

against  him.  But  he  knew  their  thoughts,  and  said  to  the  man  which 
had  the  withered  hand,  Rise  up,  and  stand  forth  in  the  midst.  And  he 
arose  and  stood  forth.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them,  I  will  ask  you  one 
thing:  Is  it  lawful  on  the  Sabbath  days  to  do  good,  or  to  do  evil?  to 
save  life,  or  to  destroy  it?  And  looking  round  about  upon  them  all, 
he  said  unto  the  man,  Stretch  forth  thy  hand.  And  he  did  so,  and  his 
hand  was  restored  whole  as  the  other.  And  they  were  filled  with 
madness,  and  communed  one  with  another  what  they  might  do  to 
Jesus."  Luke  vi.  6-1 1. 

HE  narrative  of  this  Sabbath  is  placed 
by  the  three  Evangelists  in  close  con- 
nection with  the  Sabbath  which  we 
have  just  considered.  Still,  It  is  entirely  dis- 
tinct, as  St.  Luke  tells  us  that  it  was  upon  "an- 
other Sabbath." 

Where  the  Synagogue  was  is  not  stated, 
though  it  was  doubtless  in  or  near  Capernaum. 
From  the  tenor  of  the  lano^uaore  used  we  can 

o         o 

Infer  that,  knowing  our  Lord  would  visit  this 
Synagogue  on  this  day,  the  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees had  brought  there  a  man  whose  right  hand 
was  withered,  as  a  bait  to  catch  him  In  some 
work  of  healing,  for  It  Is  stated  that  ''  they 
watched  him  whether  he  would  heal  on  the  Sab- 
bath day,"  not  that  they  might  applaud  him  for 
his  work  of  mercy,  but  "that  they  might  find  an 
accusation  against  him."  The  man  with  the 
withered  right  hand  was  evidently  a  prominent 
object,  and  they  Inferred  from  our  Lord's  ready 


1 84  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

exercise  of  mercy  that  he  would  most  likely 
display  it  on  his  behalf.  Jesus  knew  their  evil 
thoughts,  the  aim  and  purpose  of  their  plans, 
and  as  if  to  anticipate  any  movement  on  their 
part,  and  to  make  the  transaction  the  more  con- 
spicuous, he  said  to  the  man,  "  Rise  up  and 
stand  forth  in  the  midst,  and  he  arose  and  stood 
forth." 

All  was  now  excitement  and  expectation. 
The  looks  of  the  audience  were  passing  rapidly 
from  Jesus  to  the  man,  and  from  the  man  to  the 
rulers  of  the  Synagogue,  in  the  consciousness 
that  a  great  event  was  at  hand. 

Knowing,  doubtless,  our  Lord's  purpose  in 
telling  the  man  to  ''  rise  up  and  stand  forth," 
they  put  to  him  the  question,  ''Is  it  lawful  to 
heal  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?"  with  the  design  of 
entrapping  him  Into  an  answer  which  would  fur- 
nish the  ground  of  accusation  against  him  as  a 
breaker  of  the  law  of  Moses.  He,  however,  as 
St.  Luke  tells  us,  "  knew  their  thoughts  ;"  their 
wicked  hearts  and  perverted  minds  lay  bare  and 
open  before  his  piercing  eyes,  so  that  neither 
their  feigned  courtesy  nor  their  hypocritical 
righteousness  deceived  him.  And  so,  after  the 
man  had  at  Christ's  command  risen  from  his  place 


THE    WITHERED  HAKD  HEALED.  1 85 

and  gone  into  the  open  space  in  the  Synagogue 
where  all  could  see  his  withered  and  useless 
arm,  he  replied  to  the  question  by  saying,  "  I 
will  also  ask  you  one  thing :  is  it  lawful  on  the 
Sabbath  days  to  do  good  or  to  do  evil,  to  save 
life  or  to  destroy  it  ?"  The  question  itself  car- 
ried its  own  answer,  but  without  waiting  for 
them  to  reply,  he  proceeds  to  illustrate  his 
meaning  by  an  appeal  to  their  own  experience 
in  the  common  transactions  of  that  sheep-raising 
country.  "  What  man  shall  there  be  among  you 
that  shall  have  one  sheep,  and  if  it  fall  into  a 
pit  on  the  Sabbath  day,  will  he  not  lay  hold  on 
it  and  lift  it  out?  How  much,  then,  is  a  man 
better  than  a  sheep?  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to 
do  well  on  the  Sabbath  days."  What  argument 
could  be  clearer,  stronger,  more  convincing,  than 
this  ?  It  was  an  appeal  to  their  common-sense 
view  of  things,  and  to  their  pecuniary  interests, 
which  they  could  not  gainsay,  and  so  it  is  re- 
corded of  them  that  ''  they  held  their  peace." 
They  had  nothing  even  plausible  to  object  to 
such  a  putting  of  the  truth,  and  so  kept  silence. 
But  it  was  not  the  silence  of  assent,  but  the 
sullen  silence  of  conscious  defeat.  They  were 
baffled,  but   not  convinced,  and   He  who  read 

16  * 


1 86  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

their  inmost  thouQrhts  knew  the  evil  feelinors  that 
were  roused  within  them  by  this  thwarting  of 
their  well-laid  plot,  and  hence  he  "  turned  and 
looked  upon  them  with  anger,  being  grieved  for 
the  hardness  of  their  hearts." 

This  is  the  only  place  in  which  it  is  said  that 
our  Lord  was  angry.  Yet,  in  saying  that  he 
"looked  upon  them  with  anger,"  we  must  not 
attach  to  it  those  ideas  which  we  have  of  man's 
anger. 

Anger  v/hich  excites  evil  passions  against  the 
peace,  the  comfort,  the  life,  of  persons,  which 
leads  to  words  of  wrath  and  deeds  of  violence, 
which  stirs  up  enmity  and  revenge,  which  hur- 
ries one  out  of  self-control  into  hasty  and  fool- 
ish actions,  and  which  leaves  its  sad  virulence 
behind, — such  anger  is  sinful.  But  no  such  an- 
ger as  this  ever  took  possession  of  Jesus. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  an  anger  which  is 
just  and  sinless — an  anger  against  sinful  deeds, 
purposes,  characters ;  an  anger  which  is  but 
righteous  indignation  against  ungodly  words 
and  works,  such  as  the  apostle  speaks  of  when 
he  says,  "  Be  ye  angry  and  sin  not."  When  St. 
Mark  speaks  of  Jesus  being  angry,  he  means 
that  his  holy  mind  was  deeply  disturbed  as  he 


THE    WITHERED   HAND  HEALED.  187 

saw  with  his  omniscient  eye  the  evil  thoughts 
and  purposes  of  his  enemies  against  himself, 
and  therefore  against  man's  Redeemer,  and  con- 
sequently against  man's  highest  and  eternal  in- 
terests. It  was  at  the  sin  which  lay  in  the  hearts 
of  these  men,  and  which  broke  out  so  fiercely  in 
their  words  and  acts,  that  he  was  angry — not  at 
the  poor  sinners,  but  at  that  which  made  them 
such.  "Indeed,  with  Him  who  was  at  once  per- 
fect love  and  perfect  holiness,  grief  for  the  sin- 
ner must  ever  o-o  hand  in  hand  with  aneer 
again-st  the  sin ;  and  this  anger,  which  with  us 
is  in  danorer  of  becomino^  a  turbid  thine,  of 
passing  into  anger  against  the  man  who  is  God's 
creature,  instead  of  beinor  ancrer  against  the  sin 
which  is  the  devil's  corruption  of  God's  crea- 
ture, with  him  was  perfectly  pure,  for  it  is  not 
the  agitation  of  the  waters,  but  the  sediment  at 
the  bottom,  which  troubles  and  defiles  them,  and 
where  no  sediment  is,  no  impurity  will  follow  on 
their  agitation." 

With  this  ano^er  was  minorled  erief — "  beinof 
grieved  for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts."  Sin- 
ful anger  never  could  mingle  itself  with  holy 
grief,  and  this  grief  was  holy  because  it  was  ex- 
cited by  seeing  the  hard,  callous,  impenetrable 


1 88  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

hearts  of  these  men,  who,  while  professing  to 
keep  the  law  In  its  letter,  were  breaking  it  con- 
stantly in  spirit,  who  were  mistaking  shadows 
for  the  substance,  and  who  were  thus  "blind 
leaders  of  the  blind,"  remaining  willfully  blind 
when  they  might  see,  and  refusing  to  come  to 
the  lieht  "lest  their  deeds  should  be  made  mani- 
fest  that  they  are  out  of  God." 

After  surveying  the  audience  with  this  all- 
comprehending  look  of  blended  anger  and 
grief — a  look  which  they  all  saw  and  felt — he 
said  to  the  man,  "  Stretch  forth  thine  hand." 
There  w^as  here  no  manipulating  of  the  hand, 
no  touch,  no  rubbings,  no  embrocations,  but  a 
simple  direction  to  the  man  to  do  what,  under 
other  circumstances,  it  would  have  been  impos- 
sible to  do ;  and  in  doing  as  he  was  bid,  in 
stretching  it  forth,  it  was  restored  whole  as  the 
other.  The  cure  was  instantaneous.  So  sur- 
prising an  act  of  mercy,  wrought  so  conspicu- 
ously in  their  midst,  beyond  all  possible  cavil  as 
to  Its  being  effected  by  other  agencies  than  by 
the  word  of  Jesus,  ought  to  have  called  out 
their  admiration  and  praise.  So  far  from  it  that 
St.  Luke  says  that  "  they  were  filled  with  mad- 
ness."    The  pent-up  rage  excited  by  his  foiling 


THE    WITHERED  HAND  HEALED.  1 89 

all  attempts  to  entangle  him  in  his  talk  or  works, 
and  the  conscious  rebuke  which  they  felt  at  his 
look  and  his  words,  and  the  fearlessness  of 
Jesus  which  quailed  not  before  their  scrutiny, 
and  stopped  not  in  his  works  of  mercy  because 
they  objected  to  his  healing  on  the  Sabbath, 
now  burst  forth  with  volcanic  force.  The  words 
are  emphatic,  "  filled  with  madness."  Their 
hearts  were  overflowing  with  hate,  rancor,  dis- 
appointment, mortified  pride,  conscious  guilt,  so 
that  they  were  beside  themselves  with  rage. 
There  was  no  room  in  their  bosoms  for  a  single 
feeling  of  kindness  or  mercy.  In  the  great  out- 
burst of  indignation  all  other  emotions  were  ab- 
sorbed, and  to  give  efficacy  to  their  rage  and 
wreak  their  vengeance  on  their  holy  Victim  w^as 
now  the  one  aim  and  purpose  of  the  maddened 
Pharisees. 

To  this  end  they  "communed"  first  "one 
with  another"  as  to  what  had  best  now  be  done, 
and  then,  calling  together  the  Herodians,  "  took 
counsel  against  him  how  they  might  destroy 
him." 

The  Herodians  were  a  body  of  men  among 
the  Jews  who  were  the  political  partisans  of 
Herod  Antipas.     This  Herod,  who  married  He- 


IQO  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

rodias,  his  brother  Philip's  wife,  beheaded  John 
the  Baptist ;  and  to  him  Pilate  sent  our  Lord  on 
the  day  of  his  crucifixion.  Aiming  at  higher 
power,  he  was  banished  to  Lugdunum  (Lyons), 
and  died  In  exile  about  A.  D.  40. 

The  Jews,  as  a  people,  chafed  under  the  Ro- 
man yoke ;  and  the  Galileans  particularly,  a 
rough,  easily  excited  and  turbulent  people,  often 
rose  up  against  the  local  Roman  rulers,  and 
were  as  often  put  down  and  reduced  to  still 
more  galling  bondage  by  the  Roman  soldiers. 
It  was  a  stigma  upon  a  Jew  to  point  to  him  as  a 
partisan  of  Herod,  the  tool  of  the  Roman  em- 
peror. It  was  like  deserting  the  standard  of  the 
Hon  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  and  ranging  himself 
under  the  labarwn  of  a  heathen  empire.  It  was 
a  virtual  confession  of  the  failure  of  all  Messi- 
anic prophecies  and  Messianic  hopes,  a  sort  of 
giving  up  In  despair  that,  after  all,  the  long- 
promised  One,  who  was  the  hope  of  Israel, 
would  not  appear,  and  that  It  was  best  to  accept 
the  present  order  of  things  even  though  It  placed 
a  heathen  governor  over  the  royal  generation 
of  Jacob.  The  Herodlans,  as  the  upholders  of 
heathen  royalty  In  opposition  to  their  old  theoc- 
racy, and   the   supporters   of  a   foreign   prince 


Herod  demands  of  the  scribes  where  Christ  should  be  born." 


THE    WITHERED   HAND   HEALED.  I9I 

rather  than  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Judah, 
were  shunned  by  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  who 
decried  them  as  infidels  and  profane,  as  wilHng 
for  selfish  and  political  ends  to  sacrifice  all  that 
w^as  dear  to  the  Je\V,  if  the  favor  and  protection 
of  Rome  might  thereby  be  secured. 

Notwithstanding  this  deep-rooted  aversion  of 
the  rulers  of  the  Jews  to  this  political  sect,  we 
find  now  a  ready  coalescence  with  them  on  the 
part  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  in  the  common 
cause  of  destroying  Jesus. 

To  get  rid  of  Jesus  they  were  willing  for  a 
time  to  sink  all  antipathies  and  opposition,  and 
to  use  even  the  detested  Herodians,  if  they 
might  relieve  themselves  of  the  presence  and 
teaching  of  the  still  more  despised  Nazarene. 
On  a  later  occasion,  toward  the  last  days  of  our 
Lord's  life,  w^e  find  the  Pharisees  again  making 
the  same  coalition,  when  ''they  sent  out  unto 
him  their  disciples  with  the  Herodians"  that 
"  they  might  entangle  him  in  his  talk."  Matt. 
xxii.  16. 

How  this  shows  the  intensity  of  their  opposi- 
tion to  our  dear  Lord !  They  were  indeed  "  filled 
with  madness."  In  seeking  the  aid  of  the 
Herodians  they  doubtless  hoped  to  find  some- 


192  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

thing  In  the  words  or  works  of  Jesus  that  might, 
by  a  forced  interpretation,  be  made  to  show  that 
he  was  disloyal  to  the  powers  that  be — some- 
thin  or  that  would  brinor  him  under  the  surveil- 
lance  and  condemnation  of  the  Roman  authori- 
ties. This  is  evident  from  the  question  which 
the  Herodians  put  to  him  in  their  interview  with 
him  shortly  before  his  death.  With  mock  rever- 
ence and  hypocritical  words  of  courtesy  they 
come  to  him,  ''  saying,  Master,  we  know  that 
thou  art  true  and  teachest  the  wav  of  God  in 
truth,  neither  carest  thou  for  any  man,  for  thou 
regardest  not  the  person  of  men.  Tell  us, 
therefore,  what  thinkest  thou  ?  Is  it  lawful  to 
give  tribute  unto  Caesar  or  not?"  Here  was 
presented  to  him  a  dilemma  on  one  or  the  other 
horn  of  which  the  Herodians  felt  sure  that  they 
would  impale  him  ;  for  if  he  answered,  No,  it  is 
not  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar,  they  could 
at  once  accuse  him  to  the  Romans  as  a  sedition- 
ist  and  a  refuser  of  tribute,  which  constituted  a 
grave  political  crime  punishable  with  death.  If 
he  said.  Yes,  it  is  lawful  to  give  tribute,  then 
they  would  accuse  him  of  being  a  traitor  to  the 
Jewish  theocracy,  an  enemy  to  Jewish  independ- 
ence and  a  supporter  of  Roman   ascendency. 


THE    WITHERED   HAND  HEALED.  1 93 

which  would  destroy  all  his  influence  widi  the 
people.  Our  Lord  ''perceived  their  wickedness, 
and  said,  Why  tempt  ye  me,  hypocrites  ?"  They 
could  not  so  disguise  their  minds  by  honeyed 
words  and  flattering  compliments  as  to  hide 
from  Him  "who  knew  what  was  in  man"  the 
hypocrisy  of  these  questions,  and  hence  he  re- 
veals them  to  themselves  as  hypocrites,  and 
makes  them  conscious  of  their  duplicity  before 
he  answers  their  catching  question.  The  man- 
ner of  his  reply  is  a  marvel  of  wisdom.  He 
calls  for  a  piece  of  the  "  tribute  money,"  not  the 
Jewish  shekel,  but  a  Roman  denarius  or  penny, 
the  money  in  which  the  tax  was  paid  and  which 
had  stamped  on  it  Caesar's  image,  and  some- 
times heathen  emblems  and  superscriptions. 
Holding  this  before  them,  he  simply  asked, 
'*  Whose  is  this  image  and  superscription  ?" 
They  say  unto  him,  "  Caesar's."  Then  saith  he 
unto  them,  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which 
are  Caesar's,"  as  if  he  had  said.  The  current  coin 
of  your  country  is  Caesar's,  and  its  circulation, 
displacing  as  it  did,  for  nearly  all  purposes  ex- 
cept that  of  the  temple-service,  the  Jewish  coin, 
proves  your  subjection  to  Caesar  and  his  right 
to  levy  tribute.     But  if  our  Lord  had  stopped 

17  N 


194  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

here,  he  would  have  at  once  been  accused  by 
the  Pharisees  of  siding  with  the  Herodians,  and 
so  been  brought  into  disgrace  with  all  pious 
Jews.  He  does  not,  however,  stop,  but  adds 
the  markedly  significant  words,  "and  unto  God 
the  thincTs  that  are  God's."  As  made  in  the  im- 
age  of  God  and  bearing,  as  it  were,  his  super- 
scription, "Pioly  to  the  Lord,"  give  yourselves  to 
him  as  the  tribute  due  to  your  divine  Creator 
and  King. 

These  two  instances  in  which  the  proud  Phari- 
sees made  common  cause  with  the  hated  Hero- 
dians for  the  purpose  of  destroying  Jesus  evince 
the  animosity  of  both  parties,  and  their  readi- 
ness to  forget  lifelong  hatreds  if  they  may  but 
slay  their  common  enemy. 

Such  is  always  the  attitude  which  sin  takes 
toward  holiness.  The  presence  of  holiness  in- 
variably draws  out  the  opposition  of  sin.  Sin 
hates  light,  ''  neither  cometh  to  the  light  lest  its 
deeds  should  be  made  manifest  that  they  are  not 
of  God."  Holiness  is  spiritual  light.  It  is  a 
revealing  power,  making  known  on  the  one 
hand  the  beauty  and  excellency  of  God,  and  on 
the  other  the  heinoushess  of  sin  as  "  that  abom- 
inable   thing   which   God   hateth."     They   ever 


THE    WITHERED   HAND  HEALED.  1 95 

have  been,  and  must  necessarily  ever  continue 
to  be,  antagonistic.  In  the  case  before  us  Jesus 
had  done  nothing  which  was  wrong.  He  had, 
Indeed,  gone  contrary  to  the  traditions  of  their 
elders,  but  his  vindication  of  himself  had  com- 
pletely silenced  their  lips.  He  had  done  no 
works  but  those  of  mercy.  He  had  spoken  no 
words  but  those  of  purity  and  compassion.  He 
had  allied  himself  to  no  sect,  political  or  theo- 
cratic. Why  then  this  enmity,  this  continual 
plotting  against  his  life,  as  If  he  were  a  robber 
or  a  murderer?  It  was  because  of  the  hard- 
ness of  their  hearts  and  the  blindness  of  their 
eyes,  which  refused  to  recognize  his  Messianic 
claims,  though  fortified  by  such  a  holy  life,  such 
godly  wisdom  and  such  supernatural  works. 

The  same  effect,  though  not  manifesting  itself 
In  the  same  way.  Is  seen  now,  as  It  was  then. 
The  holding  up  of  Jesus,  and  the  truth  as  it  is 
In  Jesus ;  the  declaring  that  unless  men  believe 
in  him  they  will  be  damned ;  that  "  he  that  hath 
the  Son  hath  life,  and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son 
hath  not  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abldeth  on 
him;" — these  truths,  when  read  In  the  Bible  or 
proclaimed  from  the  pulpit  or  uttered  In  private, 
will  always  arouse  the  hatred  of  the  unrenewed 


ig6  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

heart  and  provoke  deadly  opposition  to  the  Lord 
Jesus.  The  spirit  that  now  ruleth  in  the  hearts 
of  the  children  of  disobedience  is  not  going  to 
yield  its  claims,  or  its  domicil,  without  stout  op- 
position. Hence,  any  attack  upon  the  heart 
under  the  influence  of  sin  by  truth,  wakes  up  the 
enmity  of  that  heart  to  God,  and  manifests  its 
deeply-seated  guilt. 

What  a  comment  is  this  on  sin !  .t  hates 
God,  the  great  and  glorious  Being  who  is  the 
author  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift.  It  hates 
Jesus,  the  holy  One  of  God — holy,  harmless,  un- 
defiled — who,  when  on  earth,  went  about  doing 
good  and  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.  It 
hates  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord  and  giver  of 
life,  the  spirit  of  truth  and  holiness,  the  renewer 
and  sanctifier  of  the  heart.  It  hates  God's  word, 
which  reveals  his  nature,  man's  sin  and  the 
world's  Saviour.  It  hates  God's  Church,  the 
blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people,  with  its 
divine  ordinances  of  grace.  It  hates  God's  min- 
isters, the  heralds  commissioned  by  him  to 
preach,  saying,  ''  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand."  It  hates  all  good  men  whose 
daily  lives  bud  and  blossom  with  grace  and  bring 
forth  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit.     There  is  nothing 


THE    WITHERED  HAND  HEALED.  1 9/ 

good  and  holy  and  divine  which  sin  does  not 
hate,  and  \vould  not,  if  it  could,  destroy.  What 
it  cannot  destroy  it  will  seek  to  defile ;  what  it 
cannot  defile  it  will  vilify ;  what  it  cannot  vilify 
it  will  mock  or  counterfeit.  It  is  an  ever-active 
hatred,  and  in  the  individual  man  begins  with 
the  first  dawnings  of  spiritual  life,  and  follows 
the  soul  through  all  its  pilgrimage  days  until 
death  ends  the  conflict.  Yet  all  who  are  out  of 
Christ,  who  have  not  a  lively  faith  in  him,  and 
whose  life  is  not  answerable  to  this  faith,  are 
servants  of  sin,  slaves  of  the  prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air,  ''  the  spirit  that  now  ruleth  in 
the  hearts  of  the  children  of  disobedience." 
What  a  master  to  serve !  a  fallen  angel  cast 
down  from  heaven.  What  a  service  to  engage 
in  !  a  daily  slavery  in  working  against  every- 
thing good  and  holy.  What  wages  to  receive 
at  the  end  of  this  servile  toil !  death !  "  The 
wagfes  of  sin  is  death." 

So  soon  as  our  Lord  perceived  the  spirit  of 
these  Pharisees,  and  that  they  had  taken  coun- 
sel with  the  Herodians  against  him,  "  he  with- 
drew himself  with  his  disciples."  His  time  was 
not  yet  come.  He  would  not,  by  remaining  and 
contending  with  these   adversaries,   precipitate 

17* 


198  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

events,  and  hence  went  down  to  the  seaside  and 
thus  thwarted  their  murderous  plans. 

This  narrative  teaches  us  the  Winding  nature 
of  sin.  It  causes  the  eye  of  the  mind  to  look  at 
the  highest  moral  beauties  and  see  no  beauty  in 
them ;  to  behold  the  most  holy  characters  and 
mark  no  excellences  therein ;  and  attributes  to 
mean  and  unworthy  motives  the  most  exemplary 
and  charitable  acts.  Grace  long  resisted  is  sure 
to  beget  judicial  blindness,  for  God's  Spirit  will 
not -always  strive  with  man. 

This  narrative  also  teaches  us  that  the  heart 
of  Jesus  is  grieved  by  the  perversity  of  men. 
When  Christ  exhibits  himself  to  men  in  his 
word,  his  Church,  his  sacraments,  his  Spirit,  and 
they  reject  him  and  seek  only  how  to  rid  them- 
selves of  him,  then  is  the  holy  heart  of  the  Sa- 
viour grieved  at  the  hardness  and  impenitency 
of  those  whom  he  came  to  save,  but  who  say, 
"Away  with  him."  "We  will  not  have  this  man 
to  reign  over  us."  May  God  save  us  from  the 
doom  of  rejecting  an  offered,  loving,  bleeding, 
divine  Saviour ! 


CHAPTER    X. 
THE  SECOND  SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH. 

"  And  when  he  was  come  into  his  own  country,  he  taught  them  in 
their  Synagogue,  insomuch  that  they  were  astonished  and  said,  Whence 
hath  this  man  this  wisdom,  and  these  mighty  works  ?  Is  noi;  this  the 
carpenter's  son?  is  not  his  mother  called  Mary?  and  his  brethren, 
James,  and  Joses,  and  Simon,  and  Judas?  And  his  sisters,  are  they 
not  all  with  us?  Whence  then  hath  this  man  all  these  things?  And 
they  were  offended  in  him  But  Jesus  said  unto  them,  A  prophet  is 
not  without  honor  save  in  his  own  country,  and  in  his  own  house. 
And  he  did  not  many  mighty  works  there  because  of  their  unbelief,"  . 
Matt.  xiii.  54-58, 

•  "  And  he  went  out  from  thence  and  came  into  his  own  country,  and 
his  disciples  follow  him.  And  when  the  Sabbath  day  was  come,  he 
began  to  teach  in  the  Synagogue;  and  many  hearing  him  were  aston- 
ished, saying.  From  whence  hath  this  man  these  things  ?  and  what 
wisdom  is  this  which  is  given  uiito  him,  that  even  such  mighty  works 
are  Avrought  by  his  hands  ?  Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  tlie  son  of  M_ary, 
the  brother  of  James  and  Joses,  and  of  Juda  and  Simon  ?  and  are  not 
his  sisters  here  with  us?  And  they  were  offended  at  him.  But  Jesus 
said  unto  them,  A  prophet  is  not  without  honor,  but  in  his  own  coun- 
try, and  among  his  own  kin,  and  in  his  own  house.  And  he  could 
there  do  no  mighty  work,  save  that  he  laid  his  hands  upon  a  few  sick 
folk  and  healed  them.  And  he  marveled  because  of  their  unbelief. 
And  he  went  round  about  the  villages,  teaching."   Mark  vi.  1-6. 


ROM    the   treatment  which  cur  Lord 
received  after  his   first   preaching   in 
Nazareth,  recorded  in  the  fourth  chap- 
ter of  St.  Luke,  we  should  hardly  have  supposed 

199 


200  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

that  he  would  so  soon  have  gone  thither  again. 
But  no  doubt  his  heart  was  specially  drawn  to- 
ward those  who  had  been  his  townsmen  for  so 
many  years,  and  whom  he  knew  in  all  the  inti- 
macies of  social  life ;  and  he  yearned  for  their 
salvation.  Hence  he  was  wllllnof  to  make  an- 
other  effort  to  disciple  them  to  his  faith.  This 
was  in  accordance  with  his  conduct  on  a  later 
occasion,  when  his  disciples  would  dissuade  him 
from  going  into  Judea  again  by  saying,  "  Master, 
the  Jews  of  late  sought  to  kill  thee,  and  goest 
thou  thither  again  ?"  he  heeded  not  the  sup- 
posed danger,  and  went  where  duty  called. 

Having,  then,  v/aited  a  sufficient  time  after 
his  first  repulse  at  Nazareth,  for  reflection  to 
have  sobered  their  minds,  and  for  rumor  to  have 
borne  to  their  ears  the  wonderful  things  which 
he  had  done  in  all  the  region  of  Galilee,  he  now 
bends  his  steps  thither. 

The  day  before  he  took  this  journey  had  wit- 
nessed some  of  his  mio-htiest  works.  He  had 
crossed  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to  the  country  of  the 
Gadarenes  on  the  eastern  side,  and  there  had 
cast  out  "  the  legion  of  devils "  from  him  who 
was  possessed,  and  who,  in  consequence,  dwelt 
in  tombs,  and  by  his  fierceness  and  strength  had 


THE   SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH.        201 

become  the  terror  of  the  whole  country.  This 
legion  of  devils  Jesus  had  not  only  cast  out,  but 
permitted,  at  their  own  request,  to  go  into  a 
herd  of  swine  two  thousand  in  number,  which, 
contrary  to  Jewish  law,  were  kept  in  the  vicinity, 
"  and  the  whole  herd  ran  violently  down  a  steep 
place  into  the  sea  and  were  choked  in  the  sea." 
Returning  to  Capernaum,  he  was  there  met  by 
Jairus,  the  ruler  of  the  Synagogue,  with  the 
touching  appeal,  "  My  little  daughter  lieth  at  the 
point  of  death.  I  pray  thee  come  and  lay  thy 
hands  on  her  that  she  may  be  healed  and  she 
shall  live."  Not  only  did  he  comply,  and  raise 
her  from  the  dead  (for  the  servant  of  the  ruler 
announced  to  the  ao^onized  father  before  he 
reached  the  house,  "Thy  daughter  is  dead  ; 
trouble  not  the  master"),  but  on  the  way  to  the 
house  of  Jairus  he  healed  also,  through  the  vir- 
tue that  pervaded  his  very  dress,  the  woman 
with  an  Issue  of  blood  twelve  years,  who  with 
great  faith,  but  modest  secresy,  had  come  be- 
hind and  touched  the  hem  of  his  garment  in  the 
assured  conviction,  "  If  I  may  but  touch  his 
clothes,  I  shall  be  whole." 

After  a  day  full  of  such  deeds  of  divine  mercy 
he  ascends  the  steep  hillsides  of  Tiberias,  moves 


202  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

across  the  plain  of  Galilee,  toils  up  the  rugged 
hills  that  shut  in  Nazareth  on  the  north,  and 
from  their  summit  looks  down  once  more  on  his 
childhood's  home.  In  this  journey  his  disciples 
are  with  him.  He  returns  to  Nazareth  not 
alone,  but  with  the  twelve  com^panions  and  wit- 
nesses of  his  word  and  works.  He  goes  there 
also  preheralded  by  the  mighty  works  which  he 
had  done  elsewhere — works  which  rumor  bore 
to  all  ears,  but  which  rumor  could  not  magnify 
because  they  already  exceeded  human  imagina- 
tion. 

He  went  there  a  few  days,  doubtless,  before 
the  Sabbath,  as  if  to  show  that  he  harbored  no 
malice  against  those  Avho  would  have  cast  him 
down  from  the  brow  of  the  hill  on  which  the 
city  was  built,  and  that,  despite  their  ill-treat- 
ment, he  still  sought  their  salvation.  "When 
the  Sabbath  was  come,"  he  went,  as  had  been 
his  custom  from  childhood,  to  the  Synagogue 
and  "began  to  teach."  It  was  the  same  Syna- 
gogue out  of  which  he  had  been  hustled  a  few 
months  before,  and  before  the  same  congrega- 
tion which  had  been  "filled  with  wrath"  at  his 
first  discourse. 

There  is  no  intimation  here  of  what  he  taught, 


THE   SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH.        20 


o 


as  there  was  before,  but  we  know  that  wherever 
he  went  he  was  ''  teaching  and  preaching  the 
gospel  of  the  kingdom." 

The  effect  of  it  is,  however,  noted.  It  pro- 
duced first  astonishment,  then  distrustful  ques- 
tionings, then  offence.  Astonishment,  or  that 
confusion  of  mind  under  the  blended  influence 
of  wonder  and  fear  at  some  unexpected  appear- 
ance or  event,  was  often  produced  in  the  minds 
of  his  hearers  by  the  strong,  bold,  true,  life- 
giving  words  of  Jesus. 

Though  the  people  of  Nazareth  had  heard 
him  before,  yet  they  listened  again  with  new  as- 
tonishment. Their  minds  seemed  to  be  per- 
plexed at  such  a  phenomenon.  They  wonder 
how  it  could  be  that  He  who  had  lived  nearly 
all  his  life  among  them,  receiving  no  higher  ad- 
vantages than  they,  reading  no  more  learned 
books  than  they,  taught  In  no  school  beyond 
that  of  the  village  rabbi,  and  brought  up  to  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter,  should  suddenly  appear  so 
Vv^se,  so  wonderful,  so  influential,  as  to  fill  all 
Galilee  and  Judea  with  the  rumor  of  his  words 
and  deeds.  ''  Whence,"  they  ask,  "  hath  this 
man  this  wisdom  ?"  They  acknowledged  the 
wisdom,  but  wanted  to  know  "■  whence  It  was," 


204  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

and  how  is  it  that  "such  mighty  works  are 
wrought  by  his  hands  ?"  Here  again  the  mighty 
works  are  acknowledged,  but  they  cannot  solve 
their  origin.  They  thus  give  unconscious  testi- 
mony to  both,  while  yet  they  seek  to  bring  both 
into  discredit  by  asking,  "  Is  not  this  the  carpen- 
ter?" *'Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son?"  "Is 
not  his  mother  called  Mary  ?"  Is  he  not  "  the 
brother  of  James  and  Joses,  and  of  Juda  and 
Simon  ?  and  his  sisters,  are  they  not  all  with 
us?"     "Whence  hath  this  man  these  thinors?" 

From  these  carping  questions  we  learn  inci- 
dentally several  things  :  that  Jesus  was  not  only 
the  reputed  son  of  a  carpenter,  but  was  himself 
a  carpenter — learned  the  trade  as  a  youth  and 
wrought  at  it  as  a  man  ;  that  his  reputed  father, 
Joseph,  was  dead,  as  no  mention  is  made  of  him 
in  these  questions;  that  our  Lord  had  brothers 
and  sisters,  four  being  named  of  the  former 
and  several  of  the  latter,  whose  names  are 
not  given ;  that  the  family  of  Mary,  the  moth- 
er of  Jesus,  was  still  living  at  Nazareth,  and 
was  one  well  and  reputably  known  to  all  the 
people. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  the  question 
w^hether   the    brothers    and    sisters    spoken   of 


THE   SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH.        20$ 

here' were  the  children  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  or 
the  children  of  Joseph  by  a  former  wife,  or 
whether  they  were  merely,  as  the  usage  of  lan- 
guage would  warrant  us  in  believing,  the  cousins 
of  our  Lord,  the  children  of  Cleopas  or  Alpheus. 
This  is  a  question  about  which  much  has  been 
written,  concerning  which  little  is  known  and 
where  conjecture  is  fruitless.  In  whatever  sense 
they  were  related  to  Mary,  they  evidently  con- 
stituted her  family,  and  among  the  people  they 
passed  as  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  our  Lord, 
and  this  without  any  rebuke  or  explanation  from 
Jesus  or  his  disciples. 

St.  John  mentions  that  the  people  of  Caper- 
naum asked  on  one  occasion  nearly  the  same 
question  as  the  people  of  Nazareth:  "Is  not 
this  Jesus,  the  son  of  Joseph,  whose  father  and 
mother  we  know  ?  How  is  It  then  that  he  saith, 
I  came  down  from  heaven  ?" 

To  these  questionings  our  Lord  simply  re- 
plied, "A  prophet  Is  not  without  honor  save  In 
his  own  country  and  among  his  own  kin  and  in 
his  own  house."  The  tenor  of  the  objections, 
veiled  under  the  questions  which  they  asked 
among  themselves,  was  that  of  depreciating  his 
character  and  works  by  referring  to  the  lowness 

18 


206  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

of  his  origin  and  the  humbleness  of  his  occupa- 
tion and  the  scantiness  of  his  learning.  They 
thus  sought  to  take  away  from  the  force  of  his 
teaching  and  the  greatness  of  his  miracles,  be- 
cause they  could  not  comprehend  the  wisdom  or 
the  mighty  works  which  he  showed  forth. 

The  reply  of  our  Lord  was  evidently  prover- 
bial. It  is  one  of  those  truths  which  have  passed 
into  the  current  thought  of  all  languages,  los- 
m<y  nothinor-of  its  truth  as  it  flows  from  ag^e  to 
aofe  and  nation  to  nation. 

Every  day  illustrates  the  accuracy  of  this 
proverb.  Few  great  men  can  bear  the  close  in- 
spection of  social  and  domestic  life.  There  is  a 
certain  perspective  point  from  which  you  have 
to  look  at  greatness.  If  too  near,  it  reveals  mi- 
nute defects — if  too  distant,  you  lose  some  of 
the  finer  lineaments ;  and  so  a  just  mean  is  re- 
quired between  the  microscopic,  that  would 
dwell  on  the  details,  and  the  telescopic,  which 
notes  only  large  outlines,  in  order  to  get  a  just 
estimate  of  real  excellence.  The  treatment 
which  the  ancient  prophets  received  from  those 
of  their  own  kin  and  nation  fully  illustrates  the 
truth  of  the  sentiment  of  our  Lord.  Secular 
history  confirms  what  Jesus  so  broadly  asserts. 


THE  SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH.        20/ 

St.  Mark  says  that  "  they  were  offended  at  hhn  " 
— i.  c,  scandahzed  at  him.  He  became  to  them 
a  subject  of  gossip  and  tattle  and  misrepresen- 
tation and  contumely.  He  was  talked  against 
and  misrepresented  and  traduced.  His  words 
were  twisted  Into  wrong  meanings.  His  won- 
drous miracles  were  distorted  Into  the  working 
out  of  evil  agencies.  This  Is  always  the  aim  of 
the  evil  one,  a  purpose  known  to  our  Lord  and 
against  which  he  warned  his  followers  when, 
after  bidding  the  disciples  of  John  to  go  and 
show  him  what  things  they  had  seen  and  heard, 
he  adds  the  significant  w^ords,  "  And  blessed  is 
he  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  In  me." 

It  was  prophesied  (Isa.  viil.  14,  15)  that  Mes- 
siah would  "  be  for  a  stone  of  stumbllnc^  and  a 
rock  of  offence,"  that  which  would  be  a  scandal 
and  a  tripping  to  those  who  were  so  blinded  by 
worldliness  and  self- righteousness  that  they 
could  not  or  would  not  see  this  "  tried  stone," 
this  '*  precious  corner-stone,"  which  God  laid  in 
Zion  for  a  foundation.  What  St.  Paul  calls  "the 
offence  of  the  cross"  still  exists,  and  it  will  con- 
tinue so  long  as  there  Is  an  unrenewed  heart  on 
earth,  for  the  same  apostle  gives  us  the  true 
reason  of  it  when  he  says,  "The  natural  mind 


208  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

is  enmity  against  God ;  it  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  Blessed 
indeed  are  those  whose  eyes  have  been  opened 
to  see  the  preciousness  of  that  Corner-stone  at 
which  the  ungodly  stumble,  and  to  embrace  with 
loving  hearts  Him  who  is  to  the  Jew  a  stumbling- 
block  and  to  the  Greek  foolishness,  "but  to  them 
that  are  called,  both  Jew  and  Greek,  Christ,  the 
wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God." 

The  result  of  this  offence  toward  Jesus,  and 
unbelief  in  him,  was  a  depriving  them  of  many 
temporal  blessings  which  would  doubtless  have 
attended  his  ministry  among  them,  for  St.  Mat- 
thew says,  "He  did  not  many  mighty  works 
there  because  of  their  unbelief"  St.  Mark  uses 
language  which  implies  an  inability  to  do  mighty 
works  resulting  from  lack  of  faith  in  the  people : 
"  He  could  there  do  no  mighty  works,"  etc.  It 
is  to  be  observed  here  that  nearly  all  the  mani- 
festations of  the  miraculous  power  of  Jesus 
were  made  at  the  solicitation  of  others,  and  as 
an  indication  of  their  belief  in  his  ability  to  do 
as  they  desired.  It  was  the  response  of  Jesus 
to  their  faith  in  him.  "  Believest  thou  that  I  am 
able  to  do  this  ?"  was  his  question  to  one.  "  If 
thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him 


THE   SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH.       209 

that  believeth,"  was  his  rejoinder  to  another. 
According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you,  were  the 
terms  of  his  healing  grants  to  others.  "  O 
woman,  great  Is  thy  faith;  be  It  unto  thee  even 
as  thou  wilt,"  Is  his  language  to  her  whose  per- 
sistent entreaty  told  her  persisting  faith.  If  the 
blessings  which  he  had  so  lavlshlngly  bestowed 
were  desired,  they  were  worth  asking  for,  and 
In  the  absence  of  the  faith  of  the  Nazarethltes 
we  see  the  almost  total  absence  of  his  mighty 
works.  Yet  even  In  that  city  he  left  not  him- 
self without  witness,  for  he  did  '*  lay  his  hands 
upon  a  few  sick  folk  and  healed  them."  There 
were  a  few  who  believed  even  In  the  midst  of 
unbelief,  and  to  these  sick  ones  the  compassion- 
ate Jesus  went  and  laid  his  holy  hands  on  them. 
Their  faith -was  rewarded  with  heakh,  and  thus 
he  left  a  testimony  behind  him  of  his  mingled 
compassion   and  power. 

Even  these  miracles  made.  It  seems,  but 
slight  Impression,  for  St.  Mark  Immediately 
adds,  "And  he  marveled  because  of  their 
unbelief."  In  the  case  of  the  Centurion  of 
Capernaum  whose  servant  he  healed.  It  Is 
said  by  St.  Matthew  that  "  he  marveled "  at  the 

greatness  of  his  faith  ;    here  we  learn  "  he  mar- 
is* 0 


210  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

veled  "  at  the  want  of  faith  In  the  people  of  Naz- 
areth. 

The  Centurion  was  a  Roman,  had  only  heard 
of  Jesus  or  seen  a  few  of  his  works,  and  yet 
had  such  faith  in  him  that  he  did  not  deem  it 
necessary  for  Jesus  to  go  to  his  house  to  heal 
his  sick  servant,  but  only  to  give  an  order  to  the 
palsy  to  go,  as  he,  a  soldier,  would  give  an  order 
unto  a  soldier  under  him  to  go,  and  the  palsy, 
like  the  soldier,  would  do  the  bidding  of  the 
Master's  word.  It  was  a  faith  that  invested  our 
Lord  with  the  whole  command  of  life  and  death, 
and  hence  he  ''  said  to  them  that  follov/ed.  Ver- 
ily I  say  unto  you,  I  have  not  found  so  great 
faith,  no,  not  in  Israel." 

The  people  of  Nazareth,  however,  had  seen 
him,  knovv^i  him,  heard  him.  There  was  no  ex- 
cuse for  their  not  believino^  in  him  save  the  so- 
cial  jealousies  which  would  not  concede  the  pos- 
sibility of  greatness  to  one  on  a  social  level  with 
themselves,  and  who  could  receive  their  homacre 
only  at  the  cost  of  their  self-disparagement. 
Hence  in  this  case  the  wonder  of  Jesus  was  ex- 
cited at  their  allowing  so  small  an  obstacle  to 
hinder  their  recognition  of  his  mighty  v/orks, 
and  for  the  sake^  perhaps,  of  personal  or  family 


THE  SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH.        211 

pride,  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  claims  of  the 
Son  of  Mary.  It  should  be  stated  here,  also, 
that  St.  John  tells  us  (vii.  5),  "Neither  did  his 
brethren  believe  in  him  " — /.  e.,  did  not  at  that 
time  (though  they  did  afterward,  Acts  i.  14),  ac- 
cept him  as  the  Messiah,  did  not  give  full  cre- 
dence to  his  claims  and  become  his  active  disci- 
ples. This  declaration  gives  deeper  intensity  to 
the  meaning  of  the  proverb,  "A  prophet  is  not 
without  honor  but  in  his  own  country  and  among 
his  own  kin  and  in  his  own  house."  Not  unfre- 
quently  the  nearest  relatives  throw  more  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  God's  children  than  strangers. 
That  hardness  of  heart  which  could  not  be 
penetrated  either  by  the  gracious  words  or  the 
mighty  deeds  of  Jesus  might  well  excite  his 
w^onder.  It  shows,  however,  that  persons  may 
live  in  the  house  v/ith  Jesus,  be  his  kinsmen  ac- 
cording to  the  flesh,  work  with  him  at  the  same 
trade,  dwell  with  him  many  years,  worship  to- 
gether Sabbath  after  Sabbath  in  the  same  Syna- 
eocrue,  blend  in  the  intimacies  of  domestic  and 
social  ties,  and  yet  not  believe  on  him.  How 
often  have  men  said,  "  Oh,  if  I  had  only  lived 
in  Christ's  day  and  seen  his  miracles  and 
heard  his  preaching,  I  certainly  would  have  been 


212  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

his  disciple  !"  Yet  the  probabilities  are  that  you 
would  not.  The  adage,  "  Familiarity  breeds 
contempt,"  would  have  been  as  active  in  its 
workings  in  your  minds  as  in  the  minds  of  the 
citizens  of  Nazareth.  The  heart  is  fertile  in 
findine  excuses  for  not  believino-  and,  left  to  it- 
self,  seeks  darkness  rather  than  light,  because 
its  deeds  are  evil. 

The  fact  is,  that  we  at  the  present  day  are  in 
a  better  attitude  for  receivincr  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus  than  those  were  who  saw  and  heard 
and  dwelled  with  him  when  on  earth.  To  us  he 
is  taken  out  of  the  common  family,  social,  na- 
tional surroundings  in  which  he  appeared  to  the 
Jews.  He  is  lifted  above  all  the  extraneous  in- 
fluences which  at  that  time  warped  and  preju- 
diced the  minds  of  those  around  him.  He  is  no 
longer  to  us  the  Son  of  the  widow  Mary,  the 
brother  of  James  and  Joses  and  Simon  and 
Judas,  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth,  the  peasant 
of  Galilee.  To  us  he  no  lono^er  wears  the  ordi- 
nary  dress  of  men,  followed  about  from  place 
to  place  by  a  retinue  of  plain  fishermen  and 
publicans.  To  us  he  does  not  stand  out  as 
the  opponent  of  the  scribes  and  the  Pharisees, 
the    rich   and    the    powerful    classes,   withering 


THE   SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH        213 

them  by  his  woes  and  exposing  their  hypocri- 
sies, and  receiving  in  return  their  poured-out 
wrath,  waxing  greater  and  fiercer  until  it  com- 
passes his  death.  The  sharp  outlines  of  these 
passing  events,  stirring  to  their  depths  all  Syria, 
commented  on  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  bruited 
about  with  maledictions  by  scribe  and  Pharisee, 
have,  with  their  deteriorating  effect  on  the 
then  acceptance  of  his  person  and  mission, 
all  passed  away ;  and  that  which  then  lessened 
the  proportions  of  his  character,  because  it 
was  viewed  only  In  a  partial  light,  now  aug- 
ments its  greatness,  when  we  see  it  in  its 
true  position  and  magnitude  and  under  Its 
fully-developed  glory. 

We  are  therefore  far  better  off  in  our  real 
knowledge  of  Jesus  than  the  people  of  Naza- 
reth, or  than  even  his  brethren  were.  We  have 
all  the  testimony  which  they  had,  and  manifold 
more.  We  have  the  culminating  records  of 
centuries  of  the  practical  effect  of  his  life  and 
work.  We  have  his  atonement  as  unfolded  In 
the  types  of  Leviticus  and  aS  practically  at  work 
in  reconciling  the  world  unto  God.  We  have 
his  Messiahship  as  depicted  in  the  glowing  words 
of  the  old  Jewish  seers,  and  as  testified  to  by 


214  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

th<^  wonders  of  his  life  and  the  marvels  of  his 
kingdom. 

We  have  his  doctrines,  not  as  he  dropped  his 
gracious  words  here  and  there  in  the  Syna- 
gogue, on  the  mountain-top,  by  the  seashore,  at 
the  table,  but  gathered  up  in  one  repository, 
by  holy  men  writing  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  working  out  their  silent  but  regen- 
erating effect  upon  cities,  nations  and  the  w^orld. 

The  thousands  of  hearts  in  every  age  which 
have  drunk  in  the  water  of  life  as  it  flowed  from 
him,  testify  that  he  is  precious.  The  thousands 
of  minds  which  have  bent  with  intense  study 
upon  all  the  points  of  his  character  and  his 
teaching,  testify  this  is  the  Christ.  The  thou- 
sands of  churches,  with  their  ministry  and  sac- 
raments throughout  the  world,  testify  this  is  the 
Saviour  of  men. 

Painting,  and  Sculpture,  and  Architecture,  and 
Music,  and  Poetry,  and  History,  and  Jurispru- 
dence, and  Literature,  and  Science,  in  all  their 
higher  and  truer  developments,  each  pays 
tribute  by  their  noblest  works  to  "  Him  in  whom 
are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge." Thus,  wherever  we  look  over  Christen- 
dom, we  see  proofs  of  Christ's  greatness  and 


THE   SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH        21  5 

glory.  From  him,  as  from  the  world's  centre, 
have  gone  out  the  elevating,  refining,  enlight- 
ening, humanizing  forces  which  have  driven 
back  ignorance,  oppression,  and  heathenism, 
with  their  foul  and  trooping  evils.  From  him, 
as  from  the  world's  centre,  has  shot  out  "  the 
light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Tesus  Christ,"  which  is  the  true  lieht 

•J  o 

of  the  mind  and  heart  of  men. 

And  here  I  cannot  but  quote  the  words 
of  one  (Theodore  Parker)  who,  having  put 
the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus  into  the  cru- 
cible of  his  own  free-thinking  philosophy, 
and  having  subjected  them  to  the  test  and 
force  of  a  scorching  criticism,  finds  yet  this 
residuum,  which  he  thus  eloquently  describes: 
"How  vast  has  the  Influence  of  Jesus  been! 
How  It  has  wrouo^ht  in  the  world  I  His  words 
judge  the  nations.  The  wisest  son  of  man 
has  not  measured  their  height.  They  speak 
to  what  Is  deepest  in  profound  men ;  to  what  is 
holiest  In  good  men  ;  to  what  is  divinest  in  re- 
ligious men.  They  kindle  anew  the  flame  of 
devotion  in  hearts  long  cold.  They  are  spirit 
and  life.  His  truth  was  not  derived  from  Mo- 
ses  and   Solomon ;  but  the  lls^ht  of  God  shone 


2l6  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

through  him,  not  colored  nor  bent  aside.  His 
Hfe  is  the  perpetual  rebuke  of  all  time  since.  It 
condemns  ancient  civilization ;  it  condemns 
modern  civilization.  Wise  men  we  have  since 
had,  and  good  men,  but  this  Galilean  youth 
strode  before  the  world  whole  thousands  of 
years,  so  much  of  divinity  was  in  him.    His  words 

solve  the  questions  of  this  present  age 

Let  men  improve  never  so  far  in  civilization,  or 
soar  never  so  high  on  the  wings  of  religion  and 
love,  they  can  never  outgo  the  flight  of  truth  and 
Christianity.  It  will  always  be  above  them.  It 
is  as  if  we  were  to  fly  toward  a  star,  which  be- 
comes the  larger  and  more  bright  the  nearer  we 
approach,  till  we  enter  and  are  absorbed  in  its 
glory." 

If,  therefore,  Jesus  marveled  at  the  unbelief  of 
those  around  him  then,  may  he  not,  does  he  not, 
wonder  still  more  at  your  unbelief,  with  your 
great  light  and  knowledge  ?  You  do  not  enough 
think  how  many  more  reasons  to  believe  in 
Christ  press  upon  us  in  the  nineteenth  century 
than  existed  in  the  first.  How  the  weight  of 
evidence  is  rolling  itself  up  more  and  more  with 
each  advancing  age !  Standing,  then,  before 
the  Bible,  with  all  the   light  of  eighteen  hun- 


THE   SECOND   SABBATH  IN  NAZARETH.        21/ 

dred  years  of  Christian  hope  and  achievement 
thrown  upon  its  sacred  pages,  how  can  you  re- 
sist its  claims,  reject  its  enshrined  Christ,  and 
remain  an  unbeUever  ?  A  great  responsibiHty 
is  thus  laid  upon  all  who  dwell  in  Christian 
lands,  and  under  the  influences  of  the  Church  of 
God.  The  possession  of  a  Bible  lifts  you  up 
into  a  degree  of  moral  accountability  before  God 
truly  astounding.  For  in  that  Bible  you  find  an 
offered  Saviour  and  a  free  salvation.  Reject  it, 
disuse  it,  and  you  cannot  be  saved,  for  Jesus 
only  is  "  the  way,  the  truth,  the  life."  Accept  it, 
use  it  prayerfully,  believe  it  fully,  and  it  will  lead 
you  to  the  cross  here,  and  to  a  crown  hereafter. 


19 


CHAPTER    XL 


THE    HEALING     OF    THE    BLIND 

THE     SABBA TH 


MAN  ON 


"  And  as  Jesus  passed  by,  he  saw  a  man  which  was  blind  from  his 
birth.  And  his  disciples  asked  him,  saying,  Master,  who  did  this  sin, 
this  man,  or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born  blind  ?  Jesus  answered, 
Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor  his  parents:  but  that  the  works  of 
God  should  be  made  manifest  in  him.  I  must  work  the  works  of  him 
that  sent  me,  while  it  is  day:  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can 
work.  As  long  as  I  am  in  the  world,  I  am  the  light  of  the  world. 
When  he  had  thus  spoken  he  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of 
the  spittle,  and  he  anointed  the  eyes  of  the  blind  man  M'ith  the  clay, 
and  said  unto  him,  Go,  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam  (which  is  by  inter- 
pretation. Sent).  He  went  his  way,  therefore,  and  washed,  and  came 
seeing.  The  neighbors  therefore,  and  they  which  before  had  seen  him 
that  he  was  blind,  said,  Is  not  this  he  that  sat  and  begged?  Some  said, 
This  is  he  :  others  said,  He  is  like  him  :  but  he  said,  I  am  he.  There- 
fore said  they  unto  him.  How  were  thine  eyes  opened  ?  He  answered 
and  said,  A  man  that  is  called  Jesus,  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine 
eyes,  and  said  unto  me.  Go  to  the  pool  of  Siloam,  and  wash  :  and  I 
went  and  washed,  and  I  received  sight.  Then  said  they  unto  him, 
Where  is  lie  ?  He  said,  I  know  not.  They  brought  to  the  Pharisees 
him  that  aforetime  was  blind.  And  it  v.-as  the  sabbath-day  when  Jesus 
made  the  clay,  and  opened  his  eyes.  Then  again  the  Pharisees  also 
asked  him  how  he  had  received  his  sight.  He  said  unto  them.  He  put 
clay  upon  mine  eyes,  and  I  washed,  and  do  see.  Therefore  said  seme 
of  the  Pharisees,  This  man  is  not  of  God,  because  he  keepeth  not  the 
sabbath-day.  Others  said,  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  such 
miracles?  And  there  was  a  division  among  them.  They  say  unto  the 
blind  man  again.  What  sayest  thou  of  him,  that  he  hath  opened  thine 
eyes  ?  He  said.  He  is  a  prophet.  But  the  Jews  did  not  believe  con- 
cerning him,  that  he  had  been  blind,  and  received  his  sight,  until  they 
218 


02 

p— ( 

o 
> 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE  BLIND  MAN  219 

called  the  parents  of  him  that  had  received  his  sight.  And  they  asked 
them,  saying,  Is  this  your  son,  who  ye  say  was  born  blind  ?  How  then 
doth  he  nov/  see?  His  parents  answered  them  and  said,  We  know 
that  this  is  our  son,  and  that  he  was  born  blind  :  but  by  what  means  he 
now  seeth,  we  know  not ;  or  who  hath  opened  his  eyes,  we  know  not : 
he  is  of  age;  ask  him  :  he  shall  speak  for  himself.  These  words  spake 
his  parents,  because  they  feared  the  Jews  :  for  the  Jews  had  agreed  al- 
ready, that  if  any  man  did  confess  that  he  was  Christ,  he  should  be  put 
out  of  the  Synagogue.  Therefore  said  his  parents.  He  is  of  age;  ask 
him.  Then  again  called  they  the  man  that  was  blind,  and  said  unto 
him,  Give  God  the  praise  :  we  know  that  this  man  is  a  sinner.  He 
answered  and  said,  Whether  he  be  a  sinner  or  no,  I  know  not:  one 
thing  I  know,  that,  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see.  Then  said  they 
to  him  again.  What  did  he  to  thee  ?  how  opened  he  thine  eyes  ?  He 
answered  them,  I  have  told  you  already,  and  ye  did  not  hear;  where- 
fore would  ye  hear  it  again  ?  will  ye  also  be  his  disciples  ?  Then  they 
reviled  him,  and  said,  Thou  art  his  disciple;  but  we  ar,e  Moses'  disci- 
ples. We  know  that  God  spake  unto  Moses ;  as  for  this  fellow,  we 
know  not  from  whence  he  is.  The  man  answered  and  said  unto  them. 
Why,  herein  is  a  marvelous  thing,  that  ye  knov.^  not  from  wlience  he  is, 
and  yet  he  hath  opened  mine  eyes.  Now  we  know  that  God  heareth 
not  sinners :  but  if  any  man  be  a  worshiper  of  God,  and  doeth  his  will, 
him  he  heareth.  Since  the  world  began  was  it  not  heard  that  any  man 
opened  the  eyes  of  one  that  was  born  blind.  If  this  man  were  not  of 
God,  he  could  do  nothing.  They  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Thou 
wast  altogether  born  in  sins,  and  dost  thou  teach  us  ?  And  they  cast 
him  out.  Jesus  heard  that  they  had  cast  him  out :  and  when  he  had 
found  him,  he  said  unto  him.  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God  ? 
He  answered  and  said.  Who  is  he,  Lord,  that  I  might  believe  on  him  ? 
And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  hast  both  seen  him,  and  it  is  he  that 
talketh  with  thee.  And  he  said,  Lord,  I  believe.  And  he  worshiped 
him.  John  ix.  1-38.    • 

HESE  passages    bring   before   us   the 
transactions  and  words   of  Jesus  on 
the  Sabbath  after  the  Feast  of  Taber- 
nacles, in  or  near. the  temple. 

The  man  whose  case  is   here   recorded  was 
probably  one  of  that  class  of  beggars  who  were 


220  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

accustomed  to  frequent  the  gates  of  the  temple, 
that  they  might  do  as  the  lame  man  healed  by 
Peter  and  John  did,  "  ask  alms  of  them  that  en- 
tered into  the  temple." 

The  cry  of  the  man  for  help,  coupled  perhaps 
with  his  own  sad  plight,  arrested  the  attention  of 
the  disciples,  and  prompted  it  may  be  by  what 
our  Lord  not  long  before  had  said  to  the  impo- 
tent man,  when  he  found  him  in  the  temple, 
*'  sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come  upon 
thee,"  they  were  induced  to  ask  the  question, 
''  Master,  who  did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents, 
that  he  was  born  blind?"  The  connection  of 
sin  with  disease  was  a  doctrine  well  known  to 
the  Jews,  and  had  been  taught  to  them  by  type 
and  precept  for  many  hundred  years.  They 
were  made  to  feel  that  sin,  disobedience  to 
God's  law,  brought  upon  man  its  sore  temporal 
chastenings,  and  that  the  evils  thus  visited  upon 
themselves  for  their  transgressions  were  trans- 
mitted to  their  children  and  children's  children. 

This  biblical  truth  had,  however,  been  much 
perverted,  and  had  given  rise  to  fanciful  theories 
by  which  to  account  for  the  presence  of  sickness 
and  calamities  of  various  kinds.  The  question 
of  the   disciples  brings  out  two  forms  of   this 


THE   HEALING    OF   THE   BLIXD  MAN.  221 

false  theory :  first,  that  the  congenital  blindness 
of  the  man  might  be  the  result  of  sin  on  the  part 
of  ''  his  parents  "  before  he  was  born,  thus  visit- 
ing directly  and  personally  the  sin  of  the  father 
upon  the  child.  Second,  that  the  blindness  of 
the  man  now  might  perhaps  have  been  caused 
by  some  sin  of  his  in  a  former  state  of  being. 
For  though  the  Jews  generally  did  not  believe 
in  the  pre-existence  or  transmigration  of  souls, 
yet  the  Essenes  and  Caballsts  did  hold  these 
views,  and  by  them  interpreted  and  accounted 
for  the  evils  of  this  present  being.  To  this  ques- 
tion of  the  disciples  our  Lord  at  once  replies, 
"  Neither  did  this  man  sin,  nor  his  parents." 
Not  that  they  were  not  sinners,  "  for  there  is  no 
man  that  liveth  and  sinneth  not,"  but  that  they 
were  not  sinners  in  the  sense  which  their  ques- 
tion implied,  as  drawing  down  upon  themselves 
as  parents,  or  upon  this  man  as  their  son,  this 
specific  evil  for  some  supposed  specific  sin  be- 
fore he  was  born.  The  man  was  not  born  blind 
for  any  offence  committed  either  by  himself  or 
his  parents.  Thus  that  whole  class  of  ideas 
which  cropped  out  in  this  question,  and  which 
evidently  had  found  entrance  into  the  disciples' 
minds,  was   swept  away  by  a  single   sentence. 

19* 


222  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

This  negation  of  the  question  was  made  stronger 
by  an  affirmation  which  declared  that  the  bhnd- 
ness  of  the  man  was  a  result  of  God's  providen- 
tial ordering,  "  that  the  works  of  God  should  be 
made  manifest  in  him,"  the  idea  doubtless  be- 
ing that  this  blindness  would  be  overruled  by 
God  for  the  showing  forth  of  his  glory  in  his 
restoration  to  sight.  Thus  the  physical  and  tem- 
poral evil  would  be  transmuted  into  a  spiritual 
and  eternal  blessing,  not  to  the  man  only,  but, 
through  the  record  of  his  cure,  to  the  whole 
world.  Recosfnizinsf  in  this  blind  man  a  condi- 
tion  of  things  in  the  relief  of  which  he  could 
manifest  a  work  of  God,  Jesus  said,  as  if  address- 
ing those  who  would  dissuade  him  (in  conse- 
quence of  the  Jews  having  just  before  taken  up 
stones  to  stone  him)  from  doing  any  further  act 
of  mercy  on  the  Sabbath,  "  I  must  work  the 
work  of  Him  that  sent  me  while  it  is  day :  the 
nio^ht  cometh  in  which  no  man  can  work."  In 
speaking  of  himself  as  being  "  sent "  into  the 
v/orld,  he  speaks  in  reference  to  that  voluntary 
subordination  of  himself  as  Mediator  and  Re- 
deemer, which  he  made  when  He  "  who  was  in 
the  form  of  God  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be 
equal  with  God,  but  made  himself  of  no  reputa- 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE   BLIND   MAN  223 

tion  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant 
and  was  made  in  the  hkeness  of  men."  That 
self-humiKation  which  he  manifested  when  he 
said,  as  is  recorded  by  the  Psalmist  (xl.  6)  and 
St.  Paul  (Heb.  x.  7),  ''Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will, 
O  God ;    yea,  thy  law  is  within  my  heart." 

''The  works"  of  God  which  he  was  thus 
"  sent "  to  do,  were  those  works  of  grace, 
mercy,  truth,  which  were  so  fully  illustrated 
in  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded  out 
of  his  mouth,  in  the  many  mighty  works  of 
healing  mercy,  and  in  the  enunciation  of  those 
divine  truths,  the  concrete  of  which  he  himself 
summed  up  in  the  one  grand  declaration,  "  I  am 
the  way,  the  truth,  the  life."  His  wondrous 
miracles  did  this,  and  accredited  him  as  one 
"  sent  from  God,"  even  as  Nicodemus  reasons, 
"  for  no  man  can  do  the  works  that  thou  doest 
except  God  be  with  him." 

But  Christ's  spiritual  work  was  to  have,  as  it 
were,  its  parallel  physical  work  running  along- 
side of  the  spiritual,  and  attesting  and  authenti- 
cating at  every  step  his  divinity,  headship  and 
power.  Our  Lord  gave  a  synopsis  of  this  work 
in  the  text  of  his  first  sermon  in  the  Synagogue 
of  Nazareth,  where,  quoting  from  Isaiah,  he  said, 


224  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

"The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he 
hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives 
and  recoverincf  of  sio^ht  to  the  blind,  to  set  at 
liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  ac- 
ceptable year  of  the  Lord ;  "  and  he  announced 
himself  as  doing  this  work  when  he  said,  "  This 
day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  In  your  ears." 
Christ's  working  day  was  then  drawing  to  a 
close.  But  a  few  months  intervened  between 
him  and  the  cross,  when  the  night  of  death 
would  put  an  end  to  his  earthly  work,  for  before 
he  died  on  that  cross  he  uttered  words  which 
showed  that  his  work  was  done,  as  he  cried,  "  It 
Is  finished!"  and  ''gave  up  the  ghost."  This  al- 
lusion to  his  life-work  as  a  "day"  is  several 
times  made  by  him,  and  in  reference  to  his 
labors  therein  he  declares,  "  My  meat  is  to  do 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me  and  to  finish  his 
work." 

Having  thus  spoken  of  the  necessity  of  work- 
ing "  while  it  Is  day,"  he  then  makes  the  sublime 
assertion,  "As  long  as  I  am  In  the  world  I  am 
the  light  of  the  world."  It  was  prophesied  of 
the  Messiah  that  he  should  "  open  the  blind  eyes, 


THE  HEALING    OF  THE  BLIND   MAN.  225 

bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the  prison,  and 
them  that  sit  In  darkness  out  of  the  prison 
house."  Isa.  xHI.  7,  8.  It  was  declared  In  refer- 
ence to  him  that  "the  people  that  walked  in 
darkness  have  seen  a  great  light :  they  that 
dwell  In  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  upon 
them  hath  the  light  shined ;"  and  the  same 
prophet,  casting  his  vision  across  the  ages,  calls 
out  to  Israel,  in  view  of  the  advent  of  Jesus, 
"xA.rIse,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  Is  risen  upon  thee !  Gentiles 
shall  come  to  thy  light,  and  kings  to  the  bright- 
ness of  thy  rising." 

He  was  announced  also  figuratively  as  "the 
star  out  of  Jacob,"  "  the  day  star,"  "  the  day- 
spring  from  on  high,"  "the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness" that  should  arise  "with  heallnof  In  his 
wings,"  or  beams.  In  making  the  assertion,  then, 
"  I  am  the  light  of  the  world,"  Jesus  had  gath- 
ered up  into  himself  the  predictions  and  symbols 
of  the  olden  seers,  and  gave  them  a  personal 
and  corporate  form. 

On  several  occasions  he  applies  the  term 
"light"  to  himself.  In  his  conversation  with 
Nicodemus,  and  also  in  those  discourses  re- 
corded in  the   12th  chapter  of  John,  when  he 


226  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

said,  "  Yet  a  little  while  is  the  light  with  you  ; 
walk  while  ye  have  the  light,  lest  darkness  come 
upon  you.  While  ye  have  light  believe  in  the 
light,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  light."  And 
then,  that  there  might  be  no  question  as  to  who 
or  what  this  light  was,  he  adds,  "  I  am  come  a 
light  into  the  world,  that  whosoever  believeth 
on  me  should  not  abide  in  darkness." 

As  he  stood  in  the  temple  on  one  of  the 
mornings  of  this  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  he  said 
to  those  around  him,  "  I  am  the  light  of  the 
world ;  he  that  follov/eth  me  shall  not  walk  in 
darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life."  The 
next  clay,  standing  beside  the  blind  man  in  the 
temple,  he  repeats  the  same  declaration,  "  I  am 
the  lieht  of  the  world,"  as  if  he  had  said,  I  am  in 
the  moral  and  spiritual  firmament  what  the  sun 
is  in  the  physical  firmament,  the  source  and 
centre  of  all  light.  I  am  the  moral  and  spiritual 
light  of  the  world. 

This  must  have  seemed  to  those  who  heard 
him,  and  who  saw  in  him  little  to  distinguish  him 
from  other  men,  a  very  bold,  self-assertive,  even 
arrogant  claim.  When  had  any  of  their  re- 
nowned rabbis,  Hillel  or  Shammai  or  Gamaliel, 
ever    spoken    of  themselves    in    this    manner? 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE   BLIND   MAN.  22/ 

When  had  ever  any  of  the  great  philosophers 
of  the  world,  Plato,  Socrates,  Aristotle,  ever  put 
forth  such  pretensions  ?  and  who  was  this  Gali- 
lean carpenter  that  he  should  make  this  asser- 
tion of  claims  that  could  exist  only  in  the  Mes- 
siah? Accustomed  as  we  are  to  regard  Christ 
as  the  li^ht  of  the  world,  is  It  difficult  for  us  to 
enter  into  the  astonishment  of  those  who  heard 
him  first  lay  claim  to  be  this  light  of  the  world, 
and  how  their  national  pride,  and  their  personal 
prejudices,  and  their  sectarian  views,  stoutly  rose 
up  in  resistance  of  any  such  Messianic  assump- 
tions by  this  son  of  a  carpenter  !  Looking  back 
as  we  can  over  a  space  of  eighteen  hundred 
years,  and  interpreting  Jesus'  words  in  the  light 
of  fulfilled  prophecy  and  a  triumphing  Christian- 
ity, we  can  see  how  literally  true  they  were,  and 
that  look  at  him  in  any  and  every  aspect,^  he  is 
indeed,  as  St.  John  declared  he  was,  "the  true 
light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
the  world." 

Take  the  revealing  power  of  light  and  examine 
Jesus'  character  in  that  phase,  and  see  how  well 
the  term  applies  to  him.  Light,  as  we  know, 
reveals  or  makes  manifest  things ;  the  opposite 
of  darkness,  which  covers  up  and  hides  them. 


228  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Now  with  all  that  the  human  intellect  had  done 
in  the  regions  of  mind  and  morals,  with  all  the 
great  philosophical  discoveries  of  the  sages  and 
magi  in  Egypt,  in  Persia,  in  Greece,  in  Rome, 
there  were  certain  regions  into  which  their  spec- 
ulations had  not  penetrated,  and  certain  topics 
which  they  had  in  vain  labored  to  comprehend 
or  explain.  There  was,  with  all  their  metaphys- 
ical acquisitions,  a  large  terra  incognita  in  the 
region  of  mind  and  morals.  There  were  undis- 
covered continents  of  man's  spiritual  relation- 
ship lying  unknown  beyond  the  ultima  tJmIe  of 
Seneca's  visions,  or  the  half-ventured  hopes  of 
Socrates.  As  to  the  cause  and  consequences 
of  man's  fall ;  as  to  the  origin  and  prevalence  of 
evil;  as  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  the 
way  to  reach  him,  the  way  to  worship  him,  his 
attributes,  his  manifestations ;  as  to  the  real  ob- 
ject and  aim  of  this  present  life,  with  its  unsolv- 
able  mysteries ;  as  to  any  future  life  beyond 
the  grave ;  as  to  all  the  great  problems  of  life 
and  death,  good  and  evil,  soul  and  body,  men 
and  angels,  future  rewards  and  punishments, — 
the  universal  mind  was  in  darkness  and  needed 
revelation,  light— revealing   light.     And  just 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE  BLIND   MAN.  229 

here  it  is  that  upon  each  and  all  these  points 
Christ  sheds  li^ht. 

o 

He  reveals  to  us  "the  way"  to  God,  "the 
truth"  of  God,  "the  Hfe"  of  God.  He  has 
"  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  in  the 
gospel."  He  has  taught  us  that  "'  God  is  a 
spirit,  and  must  be  worshiped  in  spirit  and  in 
iruth."  He  has  made  known  to  us  the  true 
aims  and  destinies  of  our  mortal  being.  He  has 
revealed  the  erace  of  God  in  the  salvation  of 
fallen  man,  through  the  terms  and  conditions  of 
repentance  and  faith,  and  thus  shown  us  that 
sin  can  be  conquered,  that  death  can  be  van- 
quished, that  the  grave  can  be  stripped  of  its 
victory,  so  that,  in  the  strong  language  of  the 
apostle,  "  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  "who  is  the  brightness  of  the 
Father's  glory,  the  express  image  of  his  person." 
He  is  thus  the  Revealer,  the  light-dispenser, 
the  scatterer  of  darkness  and  doubt,  and  the 
bringer-in  of  a  bright  and  eternal  day.  From 
the  face  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness  are  shot 
out  those  widespread  and  deep-penetrating 
beams  of  light  which  drive  away  the   trooping 

shadows   of  superstition   and   error,  and  which 

20 


230  THE  SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

will  eventually  fill  the  earth  with  *' the  light  of 
Jesus  Christ." 

Or,  take  again  the  life-giving  power  of  light, 
and  see  how  true  it  is  that  Jesus  is,  in  this 
aspect,  "  the  light  of  the  world." 

The  researches  of  modern  chemistry  prove 
what  experience  has  for  long  ages  taught  men, 
that  there  are  certain  kinds  of  rays  in  the  beams 
of  the  sun  which  are  absolutely  necessary  to 
ensure  vegetable  and  animal  life  and  growth. 
Could  these  peculiar  rays  be  removed  from  the 
sun,  though  an  illuminating  quality  might  re- 
main, its  life-giving  and  sustaining  power  would 
be  lost,  and  man,  and  beast,  and  bird,  and  tree, 
and  flower,  would  wilt  and  die. 

Just  so  with  the  light  which  Jesus  sheds.  It 
is  not  merely  enlightening,  it  is  life-giving.  This 
St.  John  brings  out  most  clearly  in  the  opening 
chapter  of  his  Gospel.  "  In  him,"  he  says,  "  was 
life,  and  the  life  was  tJie  light  of  men."  The 
argument  is,  Christ  is  the  light,  but  the  light  of 
Christ  is  seen  by  us  finite  beings  only  in  his 
life.  That  life  becomes  our  light,  our  gicide. 
It  is  the  lamp  in  the  tall  tower  of  his  holy  charac- 
ter which  reflects  that  inner  lio^ht  in  its  outlook 
over  the  sea  of  humanity.     It  is  his  own  life,  the 


THE  HEALIXG    OF   THE  BLIND  MAN.  23 1 

life  spiritual,  that  Jesus  imparts  to  all  his  follow- 
ers ;  and  because  they  seek  to  imitate  him  in  his 
shining  Virtues,  they  become  themselves  "chil- 
dren of  light,"  and  their  light  shines  before  men, 
that  men  seeing  their  good  works  may  glorify 
their  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  Thus  the  light 
of  Christ  in  the  soul  is  always  life-giving,  life- 
sustaining  and  life-developing. 

Yet  once  more,  look  upon  the.  beaiUifying 
power  of  light,  and  mark  how,  in  this  aspect  also, 
Jesus  is  "  the  light  of  the  world.'*  All  the  beau- 
tiful coloring  of  nature,  from  the  gorgeous  clouds 
to  the  seven-listed  rainbow ;  from  the  most  del- 
icate penciling  of  the  tiniest  flower  to  the  broad 
bands  of  rosy  glory  which  flash  up  in  the  restless 
northern  lights  ;  all  the  thousand-tinted  glories 
which  have  been  lavished  in  the  painting  of  field, 
and  forest,  and  fiower,  and  sky,  and  sea,  and  the 
works  of  man's  device, — all  these  are  due  to  the 
beautifying  power  of  light,  to  the  divisibility  of 
•its  rays,  to  the  different  angles  of  its  refraction, 
to  the  varying  velocities  of  its  ethereal  waves  as 
they  pulsate  from  the  sun,  and  to  the  manifold 
densities  and  reflecting  or  refracting  power  of 
the  objects  on  which  those  rays  impinge.  So 
that  if  the  light  be  taken  away,  all  tint  and  color 


232  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

is  gone,  the  beautifying  power  is  withheld,  and 
colorless  patches  and  tintless  fields,  and  a  dull, 
unvarying  uniformity  of  darkness,  would  clothe 
all  nature.  And  as  we  look  at  the  moral  world, 
do  we  not  find  that  all  its  beauty  is  derived  from 
Jesus,  the  light  of  the  world  ?  Sin  is  deformity, 
derangement,  darkness,  death.  Sin  is  error,  per- 
version, untruthfulness,  doubt.  Sin  is  foul,  pol- 
luting, defiling,  wrecking  alike  to  soul  and  body. 

Sin  defies  God,  rejects  Christ,  quenches  the 
Spirit,  kills  the  body  and  destroys  the  soul  in 
hell! 

What  are  all  the  loathsome  and  vile  and 
abominable  scenes  in  daily  life  ?  What  are  all 
the  ereat  diseases  and  sores  and  wounds  of  our 
common  humanity?  What  are  all  the  waste 
places  and  deserts  and  wildernesses  of  poverty 
and  ignorance  and  superstition  ?  What  are  all 
the  Stygian  lakes  of  human  lusts  and  bestial 
crimes  ?  What,  we  ask,  are  all  these,  and  every- 
thing else  that  disfigures  our  once  fair  earth,  but 
sin's  work  ? 

But  where  the  light  of  Christ  shines,  there 
these  darksome  and  doleful  things  flee  away, 
and  beauty,  moral  beauty,  springs  up.  As  the 
liofht  of  Christ  shines  into  the  individual  heart  it 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE  BLIND   MAN  233 

decks  the  heart  with  unearthly  beauty,  and  a 
character  that  grows  silently  and  symmetrically 
as  the  palm  tree,  developing  all  its  beauty  out 
of  an  inner  life  "hid  with  Christ  in  God,"  towers 
up  in  graceful  luxuriance  before  us,  and  the 
world  says.  What  a  beautiful  character ! 

As  the  light  of  Christ  shines  into  a  family, 
making  father,  mother,  child,  brother,  sister, 
luminous  wath  the  holy  light  of  truth  and  purity 
and  love,  how  the  elements  of  that  family  har- 
monize and  commingle  into  exquisite  pictures  of 
domestic  life  under  the  sweet  groupings  and  the 
rich  colorings  of  the  Holy  Ghost !  As  the  light 
of  Christ  shines  into  and  permeates  society,  how 
it  purifies,  ennobles  and  then  beautifies  it ! 

It  is  his  light  that  has  vivified  and  quickened 
into  life  all  the  native  excellences  of  heart  and 
mind,  because  even  what  was  good  in  human 
nature  could  not  develop  itself  amid  the  dark- 
ness of  heathenism,  and  only  comes  out  under 
the  light  of  pure  religion ;  and  not  only  so,  but 
by  resolving  the  entire  duty  of  man  to  man,  and 
man  to  God,  into  one  great  commandment, 
whose  root  principle  is  love,  as  Jesus  did,  he 
has  bound  society  together  by  this  love-tie, 
which,  in  its  daily  effects  on  the  individual  cha- 


20 « 


234  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR  LORD. 

racter,  Is  gradually  expelling  all  that  is  contrary 
to  this  "  first  and  great  commandment,"  and 
cementing  together  heart  to  heart,  and  rank  to 
rank,  and  class  to  class,  and  tribe  to  tribe,  until 
love  shall  rule  all  hearts  in  their  dealino^s  one 
with  another,  and  love  pervade  all  hearts  in  their 
actings  toward  God ;  and  thus  love  will  be  "the 
fulfilling  of  the  law."  What  a  beautiful  aspect 
will  a  family,  a  society,  a  nation,  a  world,  present 
to  the  eye  human,  as  v/ell  as  to  the  eye  divine, 
when  all  shall  be  illuminated  by  the  light  of 
Christ,  when  all  shall  seek  to  walk  in  that 
lieht,  and  as  children  of  lifjht  hold  forth,  each  in 
the  candlestick  of  his  own  profession,  the  word 
of  life  as  the  law  of  his  heart  and  the  hope  of 
hi^s  soul ! 

There  were  many  founders  of  religion  and 
philosophy  who  styled  themselves,  or  were  styled 
by  others,  ''  the  lights  of  the  world."  Confucius, 
who  lived  five  hundred  years  before  Christ  and 
founded  the  great  state  religion  of  China,  is 
mostly  represented  in  Chinese  pictures  in  the 
attitude  of  prayer,  while  a  beam  of  light  from 
heaven  descends  upon  his  book  of  wisdom,  out 
of  which  he  teaches,  his  scholars  as  they  stand 
admiringly   around,  showing   that    the  popular 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE  BLIND   MAN.  235 

idea  of  the  Chinese  concerninor  their  hio^hest 
sage  was  that  of  the  receiver  and  imparter  of 
liofht  from  heaven. 

Zoroaster,  who  Hved  about  the  same  century 
and  founded  the  rehgion  of  the  Parsees,  as  de- 
veloped in  the  sacred  books  of  the  Zendavesta, 
made  hght  the  pure  and  eternal  source  of  all 
perfection.  He  considered  himself  as  belonging 
to  the  kingdom  of  light,  and  felt  called  upon  to 
fieht  with  all  his  strength  acralnst  the  kinordom 
of  darkness ;  and  hence  the  good  principle  of 
his  religion,  or  Ormuzd,  is  termed  the  light  of 
the  world,  w^hich  by  its  working  seeks  to  trans- 
form everything  to  light. 

Apollo,  the  most  influential  god  in  the  re- 
ligion of  Greece,  and  concerninof  whom  it  has 
been  justly  said  "that  the  Greeks  would  never 
have  become  what  they  were  without  the  wor- 
ship of  Apollo,"  is  always  represented  as  born 
of  light  and  as  being  the  god  of  light,  and  his 
work,  according  to  the  mythology  of  the  day, 
was  to  diffuse  light  in  all  the  regions  of  mind, 
and  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences  of  men.  Hence 
the  sun  is  the  emblem  of  this  powerful  divinity. 
Indeed,  all  the  religious  systems  of  the  world 
sought  to  establish  themselves  as  the  light  of 


236  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

the  world.  But  they  signally  failed.  Their  light 
did  not  illumine  the  hearts  of  their  founders. 
The  brilliancy  of  their  thoughts  and  the  flashes 
of  their  yearning  spirits,  like  the  shimmer  of 
heat-lightning  in  the  evening,  only  made  the 
surroundino-  darkness  more  dark  bv  contrast 
with  their  fitful  and  unprofitable  light. 

But  it  Is  not  so  with  Jesus,  and  the  religion 
which  he  established. 

Let  us  not  forget,  too,  the  Intense  force  of  the 
definite  article  ''the  "  here,  that  Jesus  Is  tJie  light 
of  the  world.  Not  a  light,  one  among  many  oth- 
ers and  of  equal  value,  and  no  more,  but  the 
article  tJie,  being  exclusive  as  well  as  empJiatiCy 
shows  that  Jesus,  and  yesus  only,  Is  the  light  of 
the  world.  There  Is  no  other  source  and  foun- 
tain of  spiritual  light.  All  comes  from  him,  and 
other  lights,  like  the  planets  of  the  solar  system, 
shine  only  In  his  light,  and  show  forth,  therefore, 
only  a  reflected  glory.  In  saying,  ''  As  long  as  I 
am  in  the  w^orld  I  am  the  light  of  the  world," 
Jesus  did  not  mean  to  convey  the  idea  that  his 
light-Imparting  power  was  tied  to  his  earthly 
life,  and  would  cease  when  that  terminated.  Far 
from  It ;  for  though  he  is  taken  bodily  from  us, 
he  is  still  here  by  hi§  Spirit,  by  his  Word,  by  his 


THE  HEALING    OF  THE  BLIND   MAN.     .   237 

Sacraments,  by  his  Church,  by  his  Ministers. 
His  assurance  to  his  disciples,  and  through  them 
to  all  the  spiritual  generations  of  men,  was, 
**Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of 
the  world,"  "  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless 
(orphans),  I  will  come  unto  you,"  "Where  two 
or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." 

The  meaning,  then,  is  that  he  would  ever  be 
the  enlightening  power  of  the  world.  He  would 
never  cease  to  shine  on  men  as  the  light  of  life, 
the  light-giving  life  and  the  life-imparting  light. 
In  the  days  of  his  flesh  he  shone  on  only  a  lim- 
ited circle ;  his  light  was  circumscribed ;  its 
beams  shot  into  and  were  almost  lost  in  the  thick 
fogs  and  haze  of  Jewish  prejudice  and  hatred 
and  unbelief.  Now,  however,  he  is  lifted  above 
his  earthly  surroundings.  He  is  no  longer  girt 
around  by  the  hills  of  Galilee  or  Judea.  He 
has  ascended  on  high,  "gone  up  with  a  shout, 
and  our  God  with  the  voice  of  a  trump,"  and 
from  the  heaven  above,  and  from  before  the 
throne,  he  still  shines  out  the  "  light  of  life,"  be- 
cause he  is  ever  "  the  King  of  glory." 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE    HEALING    OF    THE     BLIND    MAN    ON 

THE  SABBATH. 

(Continued.) 

AVING  thus  prepared  his  auditors  by 
tellinof  them  that  he  was  "  the  Hp-ht  of 
the  world,"  Jesus  proceeds  to  give 
them  ocular  proof  of  the  truth  of  his  assertion 
by  a  miracle  which  would  at  once  illustrate  his 
meaning  and  demonstrate  his  power. 

''  He  spat  on  the  ground  and  made  clay  of 
the  spittle,  and  anointed  the  eyes  of  the  blind 
man  with  the  clay,  and  said  unto  him,  Go  wash 
in  the  pool  of  Siloam."  The  question  at  once 
arises,  Why  did  our  Lord  interpose  three  dis- 
tinct instrumentalities  between  himself  and  the 
completed  miracle,  the  clay,  the  spittle,  the 
washing  In  Siloam  ?  The  reply  is  that  at  times 
he  chose  to  work  with  means,  and  at  times  with- 
out means,  and  the  reason  of  his  doing  so  may 

238 


THE   HEALING    OF   THE   BLIND   AIAN.  239 

generally  be  found  in  some  circumstance  con- 
nected with  the  specific  case  before  him.  The 
miracle  was  not  the  less  a  putting  forth  of  divine 
power,  in  that  he  chose  to  use  intermediaries 
which  of  themselves,  and  without  the  divine 
power  operating  through  them,  were  yet  power- 
less to  heal.  The  use  of  these  media  was  in 
accommodation  to  the  request  of  those  asking 
the  miracle,  or  to  the  weak  faith  of  the  patient. 
Jesus  needed  them  not.  He  could  heal  at  a 
distance  and  without  seeing  the  object  of  his 
miraculous  cure,  as  he  did  the  nobleman's  son 
(John  iv.  46-53)  and  the  centurion's  servant. 
Luke  vii.  i-io.  He  could  heal  with  a  word, 
without  a  touch,  as  he  did  the  ten  lepers  (Luke 
xvii.  11-19)  and  the  two  blind  men  near  Jeri- 
cho. Matt.  XX.  29-34.  Hg  could  heal  without  a 
word,  or  a  conscious  touch  on  his  part,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  woman  havinsr  an  issue  of  blood. 
Matt.  ix.  20-22.  He  could  heal  with  a  touch 
and  a  word,  as  in  the  case  of  Peter's  wife's 
mother  (Matt.  viii.  14-17)  and  the  woman  with 
a  spirit  of  infirmity  eighteen  years.  Luke  xiii. 
11-13. 

We  find  two  other  cases  in   the    New  Tes- 
tament  somewhat   analoofous    to   the    one    un- 


240  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

der  consideration.  One  was  as  he  was  passing 
through  the  coast  of  Decapolis,  where  "they 
bring  unto  him  one  that  was  deaf  and  had  an 
impediment  in  his  speech,  and  they  beseech  him 
to  put  his  hand  upon  him."  Mark  vii.  31-37. 
The  other  was  wrought  in  the  vicinity  of  Beth- 
saida,  where  "they  bring  a  Wind  man  unto  him, 
and  they  besought  him  to  touch  him."  Mark 
viii.  22-26.  It  will  be  observed  as  to  both  these 
cases  that  the  men  were  brought  to  Jesus,  that 
in  each  case  he  was  asked  to  touch  them  by 
those  who  brought  them.  Hence  in  each  case 
our  Lord  accommodated  his  work  of  healing  to 
the  apprehension  of  his  auditors,  and  used  such 
interventions  as  would  arrest  their  attention, 
while  yet  their  use  would  take  off  nothing  from 
the   ereatness   of  the   miracle.     So  in  the  case 

o 

before  us.  The  man  had  not  asked  to  be 
healed,  nor  had  any  one  asked  healing  on  his 
behalf  Indeed,  it  appears  that  he  had  perhaps 
never  before  heard  of  Jesus,  and  hence  could 
have  no  faith  in  him.  It  was  necessary,  there- 
fore, in  such  a  case,  to  implant  the  beginnings  of 
hope  and  faith  in  his  mind  by  calling  the  man  to 
him,  and  thus  raise  an  expectation  in  him  of 
some  relief;  then,  having  prepared  the  unguent 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE  BLIND   MAN.  24I 

and  anointed  his  eyes,  deepening  that  expecta- 
tion into  hope ;  then  preparing  him  for  the  final 
blessing  by  putting  his  just  developing  faith  into 
action,  and  telling  him  to  "go  to  the  pool  of 
Siloam  and  wash."  The  call,  the  anointing,  the 
command,  the  going,  the  washing,  were  so  many 
ascending  steps  in  the  development  of  that 
man's  faith ;  each  was  based  on  the  former,  and 
all  together  rendered  easy  the  ascent  from 
ignorance  of  Jesus  to  that  full  belief  in  him 
which  he  so  speedily  manifested.  The  several 
processes  of  healing  corresponded  to  the  sev- 
eral processes  in  the  blind  man's  mind,  just  as 
they  evidently  did  in  the  case  of  the  blind  man 
near  Bethsaida.  The  cure  lay  in  neither  the 
clay,  the  spittle  nor  the  pool,  but  in  the  doing 
of  what  Jesus  told  him  to  do,  and  while  obeying 
he  reaped  the  blessing. 

The  pool  of  Siloam,  mentioned  as  far  back  as 
Nehemiah  (iii.  1 5),  to  which  he  was  sent  to  wash, 
still  exists,  just  outside  the  southern  wall  of 
Jerusalem,  in  the  village  of  Siloam,  and  is  one 
of  the  few  undisputed  localities  in  that  region. 
It  seems  to  have  been  connected  with  the  tem- 
ple mount  by  a  rocky,  sinuous  conduit  which 

brought  to  a  lower  and  walled-in  basin,  called 
21  Q 


242  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

''  the  pool,"  the  waters  that  flowed  from  the 
spring  beneath  the  temple  area  above.  It  is 
to  this  that  Milton  alludes  when  he  speaks  of 

"  Siloa's  brook,  that  flowed 
"  Fast  by  the  oracle  of  God." 

It  is  now  a  mere  ruin  of  crumbling  walls, 
broken  columns,  decaying  steps.  The  water  it- 
self is  brackish  and  unclean,  the  place  is  dank 
and  filthy,  and  the  whole  surroundings  are  as 
unromantic  in  fact  as  Milton  has  made  it  ro- 
mantic in  sonof. 

Jesus,  having  anointed  the  eyes  of  this  man 
with  'the  clay,  told  him  to  go  and  wash  in  Si- 
loam,  but  did  not  tell  him  what  would  result 
therefrom.  ''He  went  his  way  therefore  and 
washed,  and  came  seeing."  The  result  was  not 
only  sight  to  the  eyes  of  the  body,  but  to  the 
eyes  of  the  soul,  for  he  saw  at  one  and  the  same 
time  the  light  of  day — the  sun ;  and  the  light  of 
the  world — Jesus  ;  and  at  once,  in  the  presence 
of  Pharisees  and  doubters,  he  acknowledged  his 
cure  as  a  miracle  done  by  a  prophet  come  from 
God.  Now  follows  a  most  interestinof  and  life- 
like  dialogue,  first  with  his  neighbors,  then  with 
the  Pharisees,  then  with  Jesus.  It  is  related  by 
St.  John  with  all  the  vividness  of  an  eye-witness 


THE  HEALING    OF  THE  BLIND   MAN.  243 

and  with  the  graphic  pen  of  a  word-painter,  set- 
ting before  us  the  ensuing  events  with  pictu- 
resque beauty  and  fideHty. 

We  judge  from  the  narrative  that  immedi- 
ately on  his  regaining  his  sight  the  man  went  to 
his  home,  as  the  first  attestants  to  the  reaUty 
of  his  cure  are  his  "neighbors."  They  "which 
before  had  seen  him  that  he  was  bhnd,  said. 
Is  not  this  he  that  sat  and  begged?"  They 
saw  a  change  so  great  in  the  whole  aspect 
of  the  man,  that  some  could  scarcely  say 
whether  it  were  he  or  not.  In  this  variance 
of  opinions  they  resort  to  the  blind  man*  him- 
self, and  he  promptly  tells  them,  "  I  am  he." 
At  once  they  ask,  "  How  were  thine  eyes 
opened?"  He  answers,  "A  man  that  is  called 
Jesus  made  clay  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and 
said  unto  me.  Go  to 'the  pool  of  Siloam  and 
wash,  and  I  went  and  washed  and  received 
sight."  This  is  clear  and  succinct,  and  yet  it 
implies  that  the  man  probably  had  never  heard 
of  Jesus  before  that  day,  and  knew  perhaps 
nothing  of  his  character  and  fame.  The  neio^h- 
bors  immediately  inquire  where  Jesus  is,  but 
the  man  can  only  reply,  "  I  know  not." 

Unwilling  to  let   the    matter   rest  here,   the 


244  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

once  blind  man  was  brouo^ht  before  the  Pharl- 
sees — /.  e.,  to  the  lesser  Sanhedrhn.  This  body 
consisted  of  twenty-three  members  in  every  city 
in  Palestine  in  which  there  were  not  less  than 
one  hundred  and  twenty  householders,  and  its 
office  was  to  determine  minor  cases  of  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  law,  carrying  up  to  the  greater 
Sanhedrim  of  seventy-one  members,  as  to  a 
court  of  appeal,  the  weightier  cases  beyond  the 
province  of  the  lesser  Sanhedrim.  Before  this 
tribunal  this  once  blind  man  is  brouorht,  not  so 
much,  as  it  would  seem,  to  punish  him  for  any- 
thing done  on  the  Sabbath  day,  as  to  get  his  tes- 
timony to  what  Jesus  did,  that  they  might  have 
whereof  to  accuse  him  of  Sabbath-breaking. 

Standing  before  this  judicial  body,  he  gives  to 
their  query  "  how  he  had  received  his  sight " 
(for  the  fact  itself  was  never  disputed)  nearly 
the  same  answer  as  to  his  neighbors.  This 
answer  produced  a  division  in  the  council.  One 
party,  looking  at  it  only  in  its  bearing  on  the 
Sabbatic  law,  said,  "  This  man  is  not  of  God,  be- 
cause he  keepeth  not  the  Sabbath  day ;"  while 
another  party,  looking  at  it  from  its  miraculous 
side,  argued,  ''  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner 
do  such  miracles  ?" 


THE  HEALING    OF  THE   BLIND   MAN.  245 

Unable  to  reach  any  unanimity,  they  turn  to 
the  man  standinof  in  their  midst  and  ask  him 
how  he  regards  the  person  who  wrought  this 
cure.  At  once,  without  a  moment's  hesitation, 
he  repHes,  ''  He  is  a  prophet."  His  process  of 
reasoninof  seems  to  be  not  unhke  that  of  Nico- 
demus,  who  said,  "We  know  that  thou  art  a 
teacher  come  from  God,  for  no  man  can  do 
these  miracles  that  thou  doest  except  God  be 
with  him" — a  sound  conclusion  from  right  prem- 
ises. This  confession  of  the  man,  however,  did 
not  satisfy  them,  and  so  they  tried  another  de- 
vice. They  rejected  the  story  that  the  man  had 
been  blind  and  had  received  his  sight,  thus  vir- 
tually making  Jesus  and  the  blind  man  conspire 
together  to  impose  a  false  miracle  on  the  peo- 
ple. Hence  they  summon  before  them  the 
parents  of  the  man,  in  the  hope  that  they  may 
perhaps  secure  from  them  such  a  confession  as 
will  enable  them  to  proclaim  the  whole  transac- 
tion fraudulent.  To  the  question  of  the  tribunal, 
"  Is  this  your  son  ?"  the  parents  promptly  reply, 
*' We  know  that  this  is  our  son."  To  the  ques- 
tion. Do  ye  say  he  was  born  blind?  they  as  ex- 
plicitly answer,  ''  He  was  born  blind ;"  and  to 
the  last  question,  "  How  then  doth  he  now  see  '^.'' 


21* 


246  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

they  could  only  say,  whether  from  Ignorance  or 
fear,  "  By  what  means  he  now  seeth  we  know 
not,  or  who  hath  opened  his  eyes  we  know  not ; 
he  is  of  age,  ask  him ;  he  shall  speak  for  him- 
self." The  testimony  that  he  was  born  blind  is 
now  conclusive.  Yet  how  completely  did  his 
parents  truckle  to  their  fears  of  being  excom- 
municated, in  the  thoroughly  evasive,  if  not  ab- 
solutely false,  answer  as  to  the  person  by  whom 
their  son  had  been  healed  !  They  knew  that  it 
was  Jesus,  for  their  son  had  told  them  so ;  they 
knew  the  method  by  which  it  was  done,  for  that 
also  had  been  told  them.  But  the  hostile  party 
to  Jesus  in  the  council  had  already  agreed  to 
"  cast  out  of  the  Synagogue  "  any  that  should 
confess  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ;  and  knowing 
this,  they  evaded  any  such  confession  by  throw- 
ing the  burden  of  proving  the  miracle  upon 
their  son,  who  was  of  age  and  who  could  speak 
for  himself. 

Failing  here  to  get  any  evidence  of  collusion 
or  deceit,  they  recall  the  son ;  and  addressing 
him  with  apparently  devout,  yet  really  hypocrit- 
ical, words,  and  uttered  in  a  manner  as  if  to 
convey  to  him  the  idea,  Well,  we  have  found  out 
the  trick  and  have  adjudged  this  Jesus  a  sinner, 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE   BLIND  MAN.  247 

and  you  must  therefore  side  with  us  and  con- 
form to  our  views,  they  .say,  ^' Give  God  the 
praise,  we  know  that  this  man  is  a  sinner."  The 
direction  "  Give  God  the  praise "  does  not 
mean,  as  at  first  sight  it  might  appear,  as  a  call 
upon  the  healed  man  to  return  thanks  to  God 
for  his  cure,  for  they  could  not  thus  ask  him  to 
acknowledge  the  cure  as  being  worthy  of  praise 
to  God,  while  yet  he  who  wrought  it  was  "a 
sinner."  We  must  put  the  two  parts  of  the 
sentence  together,  and  interpret  one  by  the 
other.  Hence  we  infer  that  the  idea  in  the 
minds  of  the  Jews  in  uttering  it  was  to  adjure 
him  to  speak  the  truth,  just  as  Joshua  (vii.  19) 
adjured  Achan,  who  by  his  deeds  had  brought 
such  disaster  upon  Israel,  saying,  ''  My  son,  give, 
I  pray  thee,  glory  to  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  and 
make  confession  unto  him,  and  tell  me  now 
what  thou  hast  done :  hide  it  not  from  me." 

By  this  solemn  adjuration,  coupled  with  their 
solemn  judgment,  this  "man  is  a  sinner,"  they 
hoped  to  overawe  the  man,  and  extort  out  of 
him  some  confession  that  will  break  down  the 
force  of  the  miracle  and  destroy  its  popular 
effects.  But  they  signally  failed.  The  man 
answered,  "Whether   he   be  a  sinner  or   no  I 


248  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

know  not,"  It  Is  not  my  province  to  enter  upon 
that  question,  but  ''one  thing  I  know,  that 
whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see."  The  Jews 
now  resort  to  a  kind  of  cross-examination,  to 
elicit  If  possible  some  discrepancy  In  his  testi- 
mony on  which  to  Invalidate  it  altogether;  hence 
they  ask  him  again  to  go  over  the  matter  with 
them.  He  111  brooks  this  questioning,  and  re- 
plies with  tartness  and  Irony,  ''  I  have  told  ye 
already,  and  ye  did  not  hear ;  wherefore  would 
ye  hear  It  again :  will  ye  also  be  his  disciples  ?" 
By  telling  them  "ye  did  not  hear"  he  meant 
that  they  did  not  credit  his  testimony,  hence  It 
was  useless  to  ask  again ;  and  by  the  question, 
"  Will  ye  also  be  his  disciples  ?"  he  doubtless 
meant  to  Insinuate  that  all  their  seeming  anx- 
iety to  sift  the  facts  of  this  miracle  was  not  be- 
cause of  their  desire  to  learn  the  real  truth,  and 
thus.  If  It  proved  Jesus  to  be  the  Christ,  to  enrol 
themselves  as  his  disciples,  but  was  solely 
prompted  by  a  hatred  of  him  which  had  already 
formulated  Itself  Into  a  resolve  to  cast  out  of 
the  Synagogue  any  who  should  become  Jesus' 
disciple.  This  reply  drew  forth  their  Indigna- 
tion ;  and  reviling  him  with  opprobrious  epithets, 
they  drew  the  line  of  distinction  between  him 


— -  --^;-:^I5':''^>';,>^|:^>^>t 


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THE  HEALING    OF  THE  BLIND   MAN.  249 

and  them,  saying,  "Thou  art  his  disciple,  but 
we  are  Moses'  disciples ;  we  know  that  God 
spake  unto  Moses,  but  as  to  this  fellow,  we 
know  not  whence  he  is." 

The  cogency  of  the  man's  reply  they  could 
not  resist,  while  yet  it  not  only  failed  to  con- 
vince their  minds,  but  stimulated  them  to  such 
rage  that  they  turned  upon  him  in  indignation, 
saying,  ''Thou  wast  altogether  born  in  sin,  and 
dost  thou  teach  us  ?"  Their  rao^e  culminated 
in  their  casting  him  out — i.  e.,  not  only  turned 
him  with  violence  out  of  the  judgment-hall, 
where  this  discussion  took  place,  but  also  ex- 
communicated him  from  the  Synagogue.  This 
was  as  far  as  they  could  judicially  go — a  depri- 
vation of  certain  religious  privileges  coupled 
with  formal  maledictions  and  popular  reproach. 

Some  one  immediately  informed  Jesus  of  the 
result  of  this  trial,  and  he  at  once  sought  the 
man  and  "found  him."  It  was  for  Jesus'  sake 
that  he  had  been  cast  out,  and  he  never  permits 
a  man  to  suffer  for  him  without  the  comfort  of 
his  presence  and  support.  "The  good  Shep- 
herd seeks  the  poor  sheep  cast  out  by  the  wick- 
ed ones ;  the  Son  of  God  will  reveal  himself  to 
him  Yv^ho   for   his    name's   sake   is   reviled  and 


250  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

evil-entreated  of  men  ;"  and  he  rejoices  against 
the  whole  host  of  the  Pharisees  over  this  one 
mendicant  soul  whom  he  has  won.  He  was 
now  to  experience  the  truth  of  what  Jesus  had 
said  in  his  sermon  on  the  mount :  "  Blessed  are 
ye  when  men  shall  revile  you  and  persecute  you, 
and  shall  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you 
falsely  for  my  sake ;  rejoice,  and  be  exceeding 
glad,  for  great  shall  be  your  reward  in  heaven, 
for  so  persecuted  they  the  prophets  which  were 
before  you."  He  who  spoke  this  eighth  beati- 
tude was  now  to  prove  its  truth  by  going  at 
once  to  this  persecuted  and  cast-out  man 
that  he  may  bring  him  wholly  to  himself  as  a 
full  disciple.  His  first  question  to  him  when  he 
finds  him  is  designed  to  sound  the  depth  of  his 
faith — to  make  the  man  reveal  (not  to  Jesus,  for 
he  knows  what  is  in  man)  to  his  own  conscious- 
ness the  amount  of  his  knowledge  of  Jesus,  and 
hence  he  asks,  "  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of 
God?''  In  this  question  is  folded  up  the  whole 
doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  of  the  atonement,  of 
the  salvation  of  mankind ;  for  as  we  learn  after- 
wards in.  the  teaching  of  our  Lord's  apostles,  to 
believe  on  the  Son  of  God  is  to  embrace  all  the 
doctrine  of  Jesus  brought  to  light  in  the  gospel. 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE   BLIND  MAN.  25 1 

-  This  man  evidently  understood  by  the  term 
"Son  of  God"  the  promised  Messiah,  and  his 
mind,  softened  by  the  Influences  already  at  work, 
was  In  a  state  of  preparation  to  believe  when 
one  sufficiently  accredited  should  claim  that  be- 
lief. Hence  he  appeals  to  Jesus,  and  says,  "  Who 
Is  he.  Lord,  that  I  might  believe  on  him  ?" 

And  now  He  who  revealed  light  into  his 
bodily  eye  reveals  himself  unto  the  soul  of  this 
seeker  after  God  as  "  the  light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles  of  the  glory  of  God's  people  Israel," 
for  without  any  paraphrasis  he  directly  unfolds 
himself  to  his  receptive  mind,  and  tells  him, 
"Thou  hast  both  seen  him,  and  It  Is  he  that 
talketh  with  thee."  This  Is  a  clear,  explicit, 
straightforward  declaration  of  his  Messlahship — 
as  clear  as  that  made  to  the  woman  of  Sama- 
ria, and  like  her  this  once  blind  man  accepted  it 
as  true.  Faith  immediately  sprung  up  in  his 
soul;  he  made  his  lips  confess  it,  saying,  "Lord, 
I  believe,"  and  he  carried  out  his  subjective  faith 
to  an  objective  act,  for  he  "worshiped  him." 

Receiving  this  divine  worship  as  justly  his 
due,  Jesus  said  to  the  Pharisees  and  others  who 
had  gathered  around  him,  "  For  judgment  I  am 
come   into  this   world,  that  they  which  see   not 


252  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

might  see,  and  that  they  which  see  might  be 
made  bhnd."^  These  are  strano^e  and  almost 
paradoxical  words,  yet  they  are  full  of  the 
deepest  and  most  important  truth.  On  reading 
them  the  question  immediately  arises,  How  can 
this  be  reconciled  with  those  passages  in  which 
our  Lord  asserts  just  the  contrary  words  ?  In 
conversing  with  Nicodemus,  he  said,  "  God  sent 
not  his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the 
world,"  and  just  before  his  death  he  declared, 
''  If  any  man  hear  my  words  and  believe  not,  I 
judge  him  not ;  for  I  came  not  to  judge  the 
world,  but  to  save  the  world."  John  xii.  47. 
These  assertions  seem  to  be  diametrically  op- 
posite, but  it  is  only  a  seeming  contradiction, 
not  a  real  one.  Both  statements  are  true,  and 
the  difference  which  appears  on  their  face  van- 
ishes when  we  get  beneath  the  surface  and  go 
down  to  the  real  meaninof  of  the  words  em- 
ployed.  Jesus  Christ  did  not  come  to  this  earth 
for  the  purpose  of  executing  the  office  of  a 
judge  of  men.  Hence,  when  one  dissatisfied 
with  the  distribution  of  a  father's  estate  came 
to  him  with  complaints,  and  said,  "Master,  speak 
to  my  brother  that  he  divide  the  inheritance 
with  me,"  Jesus  replied,  "  Man,  who  made  me  a 


THE  HEALING    OE  THE  BLIND  MAN  253 

judge  or  a  divider  over  you  ?"  So  also  when 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees  broucrht  to  him  "a 
women  taken  In  adultery,"  and  having  stated  to 
him  the  Mosaic  penalty  of  such  an  act,  asked 
him,  "  But  what  sayest  thou  ?"  he  declined  to 
act  as  judge.  He  knew  that  they  wished  to 
entrap  him  Into  a  judicial  decision  ;  and  If  he  had 
given  his  opinion  for  or  against  the  woman, 
they  would  In  either  case  have  accused  him  of 
usurping  a  power  which  did  not  belong  to  him, 
and  for  the  exercise  of  which  they  would  have 
condemned  him.  It  was  not  his  business  to 
pronounce  upon  her  guilt  or  innocence.  He 
was  not  there  to  act  as  a  judge  In  such  cases, 
and  hence  he  met  their  question  by  the  reply, 
"Let  him  that  Is  without  sin  first  cast  a  stone  at 
her."  In  this  sense,  then,  as  occupying  a  judicial 
station,  our  Lord  did  not  come  to  judge  the 
world. 

But  there  is  another  kind  of  judgment  than 
forensic  or  judicial — a  judgment  which  results 
as  an  effect  from  the  manifestation  of  certain 
principles  or  doctrines ;  a  judgment  which  is 
ever  working  Itself  out  in  the  development  of 
human  character  under  the  presence  and  teach- 
ing of  certain  great  truths.  For  example,  take 
22 


254  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

a  garment  which  is  full  of  stains  and  imperfec- 
tions, both  of  fabric  and  color,  but  which  are  in- 
visible by  the  light  of  a  candle  or  in  the  twilight, 
and  bring  it  under  a  mid-day  sun,  and  you  at 
once  judge  and  condemn  the  garment  as  un- 
worthy by  the  simple  fact  that  you  expose  its 
defects  by  an  increase  of  light. 

Introduce  a  orreat  scientific  truth  Into  the 
world,  like  that,  for  example,  of  the  Copernican 
system  in  astronomy,  and  its  very  existence 
and  demonstration  judges  and  condemns  all  pre- 
vious and  later  theories,  from  the  world-centred 
system  of  Ptolemy  to  the  vortices  of  Descartes  ; 
for  the  very  demonstration  and  reception  of  a 
great  truth,  condemns  and  judges  all  so-called 
truths  which  militate  with  it. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  very  manifestation  of 
Christ  in  the  flesh  did,  without  any  formal  sen- 
tence, condemn  the  false  religions,  the  false  phil- 
osophies and  the  false  ethics  of  the  world. 

He  came  as  revealing  the  one  living  and  true 
God,  existing  as  a  spirit,  and  to  be  worshiped 
as  a  spirit  "  in  spirit  and  in  truth ;"  and  that 
great  thought  will,  In  its  workings,  overturn 
every  idol  god,  every  priesthood  of  sin,  every 
temple  of  error,  every  religion  of  man's  device. 


THE  HEALING    OF   THE  BLIND   MAN.  255 

He  came  as  "the  way,  the  truth,  the  Hfe,"  the 
very  point  about  which  all  the  philosophy  of  the 
world  had  busied  itself,  and  concerning  which  all 
had  erred  ;  for  while  to  find  a  zuay  to  God,  to  get 
at  the  ^nM  of  God  and  to  obtain  a  /i/e  with 
God  was  the  one  aim  of  all  philosophical  In- 
quiry, not  one  could  say,  I  have  found  it,  but 
each  seemed  in  error's  wandering  maze  to  be 
irretrievably  lost. 

The  centrlne  of  them  all  In  Christ,  and  the 
manifesting  them  fully  in  him,  was  a  virtual 
condemnation  of  all  human  philosophy  In  just 
so  far  as  that  philosophy  w^as  at  variance  with 
divine  truth. 

The  bringing  in  of  true  godliness  showed 
what  was  false.  The  manifestation  of  incarnate 
truth,  virtually  condemned  all  human  error,  and 
the  Incarnation  of  the  true  God,  detected  as 
with  Ithuriel's  spear,  the  falsities  of  pagan 
worship,  and  made  the  dark  and  miserable  rites  of 
heathenism  start  up  discovered  and  amazed,  and 
"  return  perforce  to  their  own  likeness."  What- 
ever, then,  is  a  test  of  character,  or  elicits  men's 
views  of  themselves,  or  discerns  between  good 
and  evil,  and  causes  men  to  show  what  their 
real  disposition  is,  is  a  virtual  judgment  upon 


256  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

men,  and  these  processes  of  judgment  are  con- 
tinually going  on  in  our  minds  and  continually 
witnessed  in  daily  life,  where  there  can  be  of 
course  no  judicial  sentence  or  formal  tribunal. 

These  are  the  meaning  of  our  Lord's  words, 
and  he  applied  these  test  principles  to  the 
Pharisees,  and  made  them  realize  in  their  own 
hearts  that  they  were  blind  to  all  that  was  really 
good  and  holy  and  true,  and  brought  upon 
themselves  a  self-pronounced  judgment  that 
condemned  their  errors  and  their  lives. 

Let  us  see  to  it  that  in  our  clearer  light,  and 
fuller  truth,  we  bring  not  upon  ourselves  the 
like  condemnation. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE  SABBATH  ON  WHICH  JESUS  HEALED 
THE  WOMAN  WHO  HAD  A  SPIRIT  OF  IN- 
FIRMITY. 

"  And  he  was  teaching  in  one  of  the  synagogues  on  the  sabbath : 
and,  behold,  there  was  a  woman  which  had  a  spirit  of  infirmity  eigh- 
teen years,  and  was  bowed  together,  and  could  in  no  wise  lift  up  her- 
self. And  when  Jesus  saw  her,  he  called  her  to  him,  and  said  unto  her, 
Wom.an,  thou  art  loosed  from  thine  infirmity.  And  he  laid  his  hands 
on  her :  and  immediately  she  was  made  straight,  and  glorified  God. 
And  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  answered  with  indignation  because  that 
Jesus  had  healed  on  the  sabbath-day,  and  said  unto  the  people,  There 
are  six  days  in  which  men  ought  to  work :  in  them  therefore  come  and 
be  healed,  and  not  on  the  sabbath-day.  The  Lord  then  answered  him, 
and  said,  Thou  hypocrite !  doth  not  each  one  of  you  on  the  sabbath 
loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the  stall,  and  lead  him  away  to  watering  ? 
And  ought  not  this  woman,  being  a  daughter  of  Abraham,  whom  Satan 
hath  bound,  lo  these  eighteen  years,  be  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the 
sabbath-day  ?  And  when  he  had  said  these  things,  all  his  adversaries 
were  ashamed :  and  all  the  people  rejoiced  for  all  the  glorious  things 
that  were  done  by  him."  Luke  xiii.  10-17. 

T.  LUKE   only  records   this   Sabbath 
work  of  Jesus.     He  does  not  tell  us 
in  what  city  it  was  done,  but  only  says, 
"  In  one  of  the  Synagogues." 

He  was  there  teaching,  for  we  do  not  doubt 


22* 


R 


257 


258  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

that  on  every  Sabbath  day  after  his  public  en- 
trance upon  his  ministry  he  preached  to  the 
people  in  a  Synagogue  or  in  the  temple.  His 
work-day,  as  he  knew,  was  to  be  brief;  hence  he 
filled  all  its  hours  with  the  deeds  which  advanced 
the  establishment  of  his  kino^dom.  His  Ian- 
guage  ever  was,  "  I  must  work  the  works  of 
Him  that  sent  me  while  it  is  day;  the  night  cometh, 
in  which  no  man  can  work,"  and  we  know  that 
he  said,  ''  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that 
sent  me  and  to  finish  his  work."  He  had  ever 
before  him  a  divine  and  definite  plan.  To  its 
accomplishment  he  bent  all  the  energy  of  his 
body  and  the  purpose  of  his  will.  In  doing  this 
he  never  flagged  in  zeal  or  faltered  in  purpose. 
In  the  singleness  of  his  eye  to  God's  glory,  in 
the  fixedness  of  his  will  to  do  God's  work,  in  the 
untiring  industry  which  marked  his  labors,  he 
sets  us  an  example  that  w^e  should  follow,  as 
near  as  we  can,  the  steps  of  Him  "  who  went 
about  doing  good."  The  eye  of  Jesus  was  as 
quick  to  see,  as  his  heart  was  quick  to  feel  for, 
the  bodily  afflictions  of  those  around  him.  See- 
ing in  this  Synagogue  "a  woman  which  had  a 
spirit  of  infirmity  eighteen  years,  and  was  bov/ed 
together  and  could  in  no  wise  lift  up  herself,  he 


THE  INFIRM   WOMAN.  2$^ 

called  her  to  him."  She  does  not  seem  to  have 
gone  to  the  Synagogue  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
ceiving healing,  nor  does  she  appear  as  one 
asking  a  favor  of  our  Lord.  Yet  Jesus  saw  in 
her  not  only  an  object  of  merciful  commisera- 
tion, but  a  case  by  and  through  which  he  could 
make  known  afresh,  and  with  renewed  force,  the 
power  which  he  held  in  his  hand  as  Lord  alike 
of  the  spirit  world  and  of  the  Sabbath.  At  his 
call,  this  cripple,  bent  double,  with  face  earth- 
ward, with  body  distorted,  in  whom  hope  of 
relief  had  died  out  long  ago,  and  to  whom  per- 
haps life  was  a  burden  and  a  grief,  came  before 
the  assembly,  presenting  to  them  all  a  mourn- 
ful spectacle  that  should  have  excited  their  ten- 
derest  sympathy.  As  soon  as  she  had  reached 
Jesus  he  laid  his  hand  on  her  and  pronounced 
the  healing  words,  ''Woman,  thou  art  loosed 
from  thine  infirmity."  The  words  of  our  Lord 
are  peculiar,  different  from  those  ordinarily  used 
in  his  miracles  of  healing.  They  implied  bonds, 
fetters,  and  these  again  implied  a  binder,  a  fet- 
terer,  one  who  had  manacled  her  body  with  a 
chain,  and  bowed  it  together  and  kept  it  bent 
with  a  bond  which  no  human  power  could  break. 
Accordingly,  our  Lord  says  subsequently  that 


26o  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

she  had  been  bound  by  Satan,  that  he  was  the 
slave-master  who  had  thus  chained  together,  as 
it  were,  the  head  and  feet  of  his  victim.  Thus 
her  infirmity  is  traced  to  Satan,  whether  di- 
rectly, through  some  such  permitted  agency 
as  Avas  allowed  to  him  in  the  case  of  Job,  or  the 
"  thorn  in  the  flesh "  of  Paul ;  or  indirectly,  to 
the  resultinof  evil  of  some  sin  into  which  he 
tempted  her,  we  cannot  tell ;  all  we  know 
is  that  "Satan  had  bound"  her,  that  she  had 
been  his  bond-woman  for  eighteen  years,  that 
no  power  of  man  could  loose  this  bond  and 
make  her  body  straight,  and  that  she  was  thus 
in  her  own  eyes  and  in  the  judgment  of  others 
a  helpless,  incurable,  life-long  cripple. 

But  no  sooner  does  our  Lord  pronounce  the 
words  which  by  their  potent  influence  dissolve 
the  bonds  than  she  lifts  herself  up,  finds  herself 
made  straight,  and  at  once  glorifies  God.  The 
strong  man,  armed,  had  thus  kept  and  deform- 
ed the  palace  of  this  body  for  nearly  a  score 
of  3^ears,  but  now  a  stronger  than  the  prince 
of  this  world  had  come  upon  him,  broken  his 
bands  asunder,  taken  from  him  his  spoil,  and 
let  the  captive  go  free,  erect,  rejoicing. 

This  act  on  the  part  of  Jesus  immediately  ex- 


THE  INFIRM  WOMAN.  261 

cites  the  Indignation  of  the  ruler  of  the  Syna- 
gogue ;  and  too  much  overawed  by  the  miracle 
to  say  a  word  against  Jesus,  he  turns  upon  the 
people  and  scolds  them,  as  if  they  had  done  an 
act  of  wrong.  Indeed,  he  rebukes  them  as  Sab- 
bath-breakers, saying,  "There  are  six  days  in 
which  men  ouo^ht  to  work :  in  them  therefore 

o 

come  and  be  healed,  and  not  on  the  Sab- 
barii  day."  He  thus  sought  to  do  away  the 
effect  of  the  miracle  by  urging  the  charge  of 
Sabbath  breaking.  He  seeks  to  change  the 
current  of  their  thoughts,  then  doubtless  flow- 
ing Christward  in  wonder  and  thankfulness  for 
such  display  of  divine  power.  Into  another  chan- 
nel, whereby  the  people  would  reproach  both 
themselves  and  Jesus  as  violators  of  the  fourth 
commandment.  Through  all  this  deceit  and 
mock  jealousy  of  the  law  of  Moses  our  Lord 
saw,  and  replied,  "Thou  hypocrite!"  causing 
the  ruler  of  the  Synagogue  to  feel  that  he  had 
penetrated  Into  the  secret  motives  of  his  heart; 
and  then  he  establishes  the  charge  of  hypocrisy 
by  asking,  "  Doth  not  each  one  of  you  on  the 
Sabbath  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the  stall 
and  lead  him  away  to  watering?  And  ought 
not  this  woman,  being  a  daughter  of  Abraham, 


262  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

whom  Satan  hath  bound,  lo !  these  eighteen 
years,  be  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the  Sabbath 
day?"  How  pertinent  and  unanswerable  was 
this  illustration  and  question  of  Jesus ! 

If  you  can  on  the  Sabbath  loose  the  bonds 
that  bind  your  beasts  in  order  to  give  them 
water — bonds  that  have  tied  them  to  your  stall, 
but  a  few  hours,  and  beasts  that  have  no  souls — - 
do  you  blame  me  for  loosing  a  bond  of  eigh- 
teen years'  duration,  fastened  on  a  daughter  of 
Abraham,  and  restoring  to  her  the  free  use  of 
limb  and  body  of  which  Satan  had  so  long  de- 
prived her  ?  Well  might  his  adversaries  "'  be 
ashamed."  Their  hypocritical  cant  about  the 
Sabbath  had  been  exposed,  their  own  works 
upon  their  own  cattle  were  made  to  testify  to 
their  hypocrisy.  They  were  ashamed  also  at 
being  thus  exposed  to  the  people,  and  subjected 
doubtless  to  the  ridicule  of  those  whose  esteem 
and  reverence  they  so  sedulously  courted.  On 
the  other  hand,  "  all  the  people  "  (for  we  ever 
find  that  "the  people"  flocked  to  hear  him,  that 
"the  common  people  heard  him  gladly")  "re- 
joiced for  all  the  glorious  things  that  were  done 
by  him."  Thus  shame  and  joy  were  mingled 
in  the  congregation — shame  on  the  part  of  the 


THE   INFIRM   WOMAN.  263 

ruler  and  his  friends,  arising  out  of  their  con- 
scious exposure  and  defeat,  for  truth  always  ex- 
poses and  defeats  error  and  hypocrisy,  and  joy 
on  the  part  of  the  people,  who  recognize  in 
these  works  of  Jesus  a  pledge  of  love  and 
grace  which  they  eagerly  sought,  though  as 
yet  they  understood  not  the  full  purport  of  his 
holy  mission. 

The  time  is  comino^  when  there  will  be  a 
similar  exposure  of  all  the  hypocrisies  of  men, 
when  the  gloss  and  glare  of  sin  shall  be  rubbed 
off,  w^hen  the  masks  it  wears  shall  be  removed, 
when  it  shall  appear  in  Its  naked  foulness  and 
filthiness,  and  when  all  eyes  shall  see  the  mis- 
erable artifice  aad  subterfuge  which  served  to 
disguise  euilt  and  make  even  sin  itself  wear  the 
aspect  and  livery  of  goodness. 

The  time  is  coming  when  all  Christ's  "ad- 
versaries" shall  "be  ashamed" — ashamed  at 
their  folly  in  ever  trusting  to  the  lures  of  the 
"  father  of  lies ;"  ashamed  at  their  guilt  in  per- 
sistently rejecting  so  glorious  and  merciful  a 
Saviour;  ashamed  of  their  personal  sins,  which 
will  then  lie  naked  and  open  before  the  eyes  of 
the  universe,  when  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  shall 
be  revealed.     How  will  those  who  now  reject 


264  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

Jesus  then  "call  on  the  rocks  and  the  moun- 
tains, Fall  on  us  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  Him* 
that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  for  the  great  day 
of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  we  are  not  able  to 
stand  !"  It  is  a  hard  position  to  occupy,  that 
of  an  "  adversary  "  of  Christ.  Yet  all  are  ad- 
versaries who  are  not  his  professed  and  faith- 
ful friends.  His  words  are,  ''  He  that  Is  not 
with  me  is  against  me,"  and  you  can  be  with 
Christ  only  by  a  living  faith  that  unites. you  to 
him  even  as  the  branch  is  united  to  the  vine, 
and  of  all  who  are  not  thus  "with  Christ"  he 
has  declared,  "  Those  mine  enemies  who  would 
not  that  I  should  reign  over  them,  bring  them 
hither  and  slay  them  before  me." 

On  the  other  hand,  it  will  be  a  day  of  intense 
rejoicing  when  Jesus  shall  rule  king  of  nations  as 
he  now  does  king  of  saints,  when  his  word  will 
be  the  world's  law,  his  life  the  world's  example, 
his  truth  the  world's  light,  his  salvation  the 
world's  hope,  his  kingdom  the  world's  glory. 
Then  how  desirable  will  it  be  to  be  found 
among  the  "friends"  of  Jesus,  to  realize  that 
the  ereat  Redeemer  is  our  Elder  Brother,  one 
who  has  borne  our  nature,  who  has  atoned  for 
our  sin,    v/ho   has   graven  our   names   on  the 


THE   INFIRM   WOAIAN.  26$ 

palms  of  his  hands,  and  who  has  prepared  for 
us  the  many  mansions  in  the  "Father's  house" 
in  heaven  !  In  that  **  Father's  house  of  many 
mansions "  we  doubt  not  that  the  ransomed 
souls  will  study  over  and  over  again  "  all  the 
glorious  things  that  were  done  by  him."  Not 
the  few  specimen  Instances  recorded  in  the 
gospels,  but  those  innumerable  acts  and  words 
of  love  and  mercy  of  which  St.  John  says,  "  The 
which,  if  they  should  be  written  every  one,  I 
suppose  that  even  the  world  itself  could  not 
contain  the  books  that  should  be  written." 

The  two  parables  which  follow  were  evident- 
ly part  of  our  Lord's  teachings  on  the  Sab- 
bath ;  and  though  St.  Matthew  records  both  and 
St.  Mark  one  (that  of  the  mustard  seed)  In 
somewhat  different  connections,  yet  that  con- 
stitutes no  reason  why  they  should  not  have 
formed  part  of  his  discourse  on  this  day.  For 
it  seems  that  they  naturally  sprang  up  out  of  the 
bitter  opposition  of  the  Jews  to  Jesus,  and  are 
designed  to  show,  first,  by  the  parable  of  the  mus- 
tard seed,  that  though  the  kingdom  of  God,  as 
represented  now  by  Jesus  and  his  few  followers, 
might  seem  small  and  insignificant  even  as  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed,  yet  by  and  by  it  would 

23 


266  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

become  a  great  tree,  "  greater  than  all  herbs ;'' 
and  second,  by  the  parable  of  the  leaven,  that 
though  the  teaching  of  Jesus  seemed  to  find  but 
small  lodgment  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  now, 
yet,  like  a  small  piece  of  leaven,  it  would  ere 
long  leaven  the  whole  lump  and  assimilate  all 
to  itself. 

Our  Lord  introduces  these  parables  with  the 
questions,  *'  Unto  what  is  the  kingdom  of  God 
like?  and  whereunto  shall  I  liken  it?"  Not  that 
he  was  at  any  loss  to  state  what  it  was  like,  but 
for  the  purpose  of  eliciting  their  attention  and 
to  awaken  thouo^ht  in  their  minds  as  to  the 
nature  of  that  kino^dom.  Not  waiting-  for  an 
answer,  he  delivers  the  two  brief  but  most  sig- 
nificant parables  to  which  we  have  already 
alluded. 

Without  going  into  any  formal  exposition  of 
them,  let  us  note  a  few  of  their  more  salient 
points.  The  mustard  seed  is,  indeed,  "  the  least 
of  all  seeds  that  are  down  in  the  earth  "  which 
produce  ligneous  stems  and  branches,  and  It 
was  in  this  sense,  doubtless,  that  our  Lord  spoke 
of  it,  alluding  rather  to  the  relative  difference 
between  the  seed  and  the  full-grown  plant  than  to 
the  seed  in  the  abstract,  because  the  seeds  of 


THE   INFIRM  WOMAN,  26/ 

poppy  and  rue  are  smaller  still,  though  the 
plants  never  rise  above' humble  herbs,  whereas 
the  mustard  seed  "  becometh  a  ereat  tree  and 
shooteth  out  great  branches,  so  that  the  birds 
of  the  air  came  and  lodo^ed  in  the  branches 
thereof."  This,  of  course,  refers  to  its  growth 
in  warm  climates,  of  which  we  have  authentic 
accounts  ;  thus  a  traveler  in  South  America  says : 
*'The  mustard  plant  thrives  so  mightily  in  Chili 
that  it-  is  as  biof  as  a  man's  arm  and  so  hio-h  and 
thick  that  it  looks  like  a  tree,  and  the  birds 
build  their  nests  in  them,  as  the  gospel  men- 
tions." The  exceedingly  small,  and  to  human 
aspect  Insignificant,  beginning  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  Is  thus  strongly  brought  out  when  It  is 
compared  to  a  mustard  seed.  And  looking  at 
It  with  merely  human  eyes,  what  could  be  more 
small  and  inslo^nificant  than  this  first  seed  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  its  earthly  manifesta- 
tion ?  The  idea,  humanly  speaking,  was  absurd, 
that  less  than  a  dozen  illiterate  Galileans,  the 
disciples  of  a  crucified  Jew,  could  overthrow  the 
old  religions  of  the  world  and  set  up  a  new 
one  which  should  extend  from  the  rising  to  the 
setting  sun.  They  were  to  conquer  the  world 
to   the   sceptre  of  Jesus,   and  yet  Immediately 


268  THE  SABBATHS  OF  OUR  LORD. 

after  his  death  they  shut  themselves  up  In  an 
upper  room  "  for  fear  of  the  Jews."  Great 
names,  literary  honors,  the  patronage  of  kings, 
the  favor  of  the  people,  they  did  not  possess. 
To  mortal  view  it  was  the  veriest  absurdity  to 
commission  such  men  to  convert  the  world, 
then  just  passing  through  its  Augustan  age,  to 
the  faith  of  the  son  of  a  carpenter  whom  the 
Jews  had  excommunicated,  and  the  Romans 
nailed  to  the  accursed  tree. 

Yet  see  how  soon  this  small  seed  became  a 
great  tree !  Fifty  days  after  the  ascension  of 
Jesus  three  thousand  were  converted  under  the 
preaching  of  Peter.  In  less  than  three  years 
churches  were  gathered  throughout  all  Judea, 
Galilee  and  Samaria,  and  in  thirty  years  Chris- 
tianity had  spread  over  Asia  Minor  and  Greece, 
southward  to  Egypt  and  westward  to  Rome. 
In  a  hundred  years  Justin  Martyr  declared  in 
an  epistle  to  the  emperor  Adrian,  "  There  is 
not  a  nation,  either  Greek  or  barbarian,  or  of 
any  other  name,  even  of  those  who  wander  in 
tribes  and  live  in  tents,  among  whom  prayers 
are  not  offered  to  God  the  Father  in  the  name 
of  the  crucified  Jesus."  In  the  fourth  century 
the  golden-mouthed  John  of  Antioch   (Chrys- 


THE  INFIRM  WOMAN.  269 

ostom)  wrote,  "  The  apostles  of  Christ  were 
twelve,  and  they  gained  the  whole  earth.  If  you 
go  to  India,  to  Scythia,  to  the  uttermost  part 
of  the  world,  you  will  everywhere  find  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  enlightening  the  souls  of  men." 
Eighteen  hundred  years  have  passed  away, 
and  how  stands  the  religion  of  Jesus  now? 
Take  a  map  of  the  world,  mark  on  it  the 
countries  most  celebrated  for  law,  order,  mo- 
rality, domestic  virtue,  refinement,  intellect- 
ual culture,  free  government,  and  there  you 
will  find  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  prevails. 
Why  is  this  ?  Why  is  all  that  is  great  and 
good  and  lofty  and  inspiring  in  law,  govern- 
ment, literature,  art,  science  and  morality  only 
found  among  the  nations  of  Christendom,  while 
all  that  is  debasing  in  intellect,  tyrannical  In 
power,  degrading  in  morals,  whatever  strips 
man  of  his  glory,  society  of  Its  safeguards,  gov- 
ernment of  its  paternal  care,  woman  of  her 
true  position,  is  found  where  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ  does  not  {)revail  ?  Can  we 
solve  the  problem  of  the  extension  of  Chris- 
tianity on  the  principles  of  human  philosophy  ? 
Gibbon  tried  it  in  his  five  celebrated  reasons, 
and  failed.     Is  it  solved  by  the  maxims  of  po- 

23* 


2/0  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

lltical  science  ?  ]\'Iachiavel  and  Montesquieu 
and  Bacon  and  Guizot  each  assert  that  Its 
wondrous  development  Is  an  anomaly  In  the 
world.  Can  we  match  It  by  any  parallel  fact 
In  any  country,  In  any  religion,  by  any  founder 
of  a  new  sect  ?  The  voice  of  universal  history 
answers,  No !  It  stands  alone,  the  wonder  of 
the  nations,  *as  the  triumphal  monument  of 
Jesus  on  the  plains  of  a  fallen  humanity.  "  Of 
the  Increase  of  his  government  there  shall  be 
no  end."  This  religion  of  Jesus  will  advance 
steadily,  surely,  triumphantly,  over  all  the  bar- 
riers and  obstacles  of  earth  and  hell  and  Satan, 
until  it  shall  become  the  one  only  religion  of 
everv  kinordom  and  tribe  and  nation  on  the 
o^lobe. 

The  parable  of  the  "  leaven  hid  In  three 
measures  of  meal "  refers  to  this  same  spiritual 
kingdom,  but  under  another  aspect.  The  mus- 
tard seed  represented  its  outward  groivth  and 
enlargement  In  the  eyes  of  men,  the  leaven 
Its  iirward  zvoi^king  In  the  individual  heart,  Its 
assimilative,  rather  than  Its  accretive,  power — 
the  Internal  penetrating  and  diffusing  energy 
of  its  truth,  rather  than  Its  external  outspread- 
ing  and  greatness.     It  Is  the  property  of  the 


THE  INFIRM   WOMAN.  2/1 

grace  of  God,  when  It  finds  a  lodgment  in  the 
heart,  to  change  the  heart  into  the  character 
of  that  which  is  thus  leavening  it,  just  as  it  is 
the  property  of  leaven  hid  in  a  measure  of 
meal  to  change  the  character  of  the  whole  lump 
of  dough  in  the  midst  of  which  it  was  placed. 
Like  leaven,  it  works  silently,  imperceptibly, 
surely,  transforming  little  by  little  the  entire 
affections  of  the  soul ;  and  without  imparting  to 
it  any  new  faculties  or  affections  gives  new  force 
and  direction  to  their  outofoinofs  and  influence, 
so  that  the  thinors  in  which  the  natural  man 
once  took  delight  now  afford  no  joy ;  the  emo- 
tions v/hich  he  once  cherished  he  now  repress- 
es ;  the  plans  which  once  absorbed  his  energies 
are  now  laid  aside  ;  the  passions  which  once 
raged  in  his  heart  are  now  tamed  ;  while  the 
things  he  formerly  hated  he  now  likes ;  what 
he  once  shunned  he  now  rejoices  in — prayer, 
praise,  reading  God's  word,  attendance  on  the 
means  of  grace,  the  cultivating  of  a  meek  and 
quiet  spirit,  the  bridling.of  his  tongue,  the  effort 
to  grow  in  grace,  are  now  sought  for  and  cul- 
tivated with  diligence  and  delight.  "  Old  things 
have  passed  av/ay  ;  behold,  all  things  have  be- 
come new." 


2/2  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

As  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  thus 
leaven-hke  In  Its  worklno^s  In  the  Individual 
heart,  so  It  Is  also  In  Its  effects  upon  the  mass 
of  mankind.  For  the  Church,  which  Is  the  aggre- 
gate of  Individuals,  the  blessed  company  of  all 
faithful  people,  Is  In  Its  Inner  life  sustained  and 
developed  by  the  Indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  work  is  going  on  simultaneously  in  tens 
of  thousands  of  hearts,  effecting  there  those 
changes  and  brlnorlnor  out  those  results  which 
in  their  aggregation  are  to  alter  the  face  of  the 
earth  and  make  It  "a  dwelling-place  of  right- 
eousness." And  as  the  woman  in  the  parable 
took  and  ''hid''  this  leaven  in  the  meal,  so  the 
leaven-like  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  hidden 
from  the  carnal  eye ;  for  St.  Paul  tells  us,  "The 
natural  man  understandeth  not  the  thino^s  of 
the  spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness  unto 
him,  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they 
are  spiritually  discerned."  The  working  of  this 
gospel  leaven  does  not  appear  upon  the  surface 
of  society — it  is  covered  up  from  outward  ob- 
servation ;  but  beneath  the  surface,  at  the  centre 
of  the  mass,  at  the  core  of  humanity,  it  is  doing 
its  assimilating  and  transforming  work,  chang- 
inof  into  its  own    likeness   and    character   that 


THE   LVFIRM   WOMAN.  2/3 

with  which  It  is  brought  in  contact,  and  so  this 
process  will  go  on  '*  until  the  whole  " — the  whole 
elect  of  God — "  is  leavened." 

These  parables  are  prophecies  as  well  as 
didactic  lessons.  They  were  true  then,  and 
they  foretell  what  has  come  and  what  will  yet 
come  to  pass.  This  shows  the  prophetic  ken  of 
Jesus  as  well  as  his  self-confidence  in  the  tri- 
umph and  regenerating  power  of  his  religion. 
Out  of  these  homely  truths  and  illustrations — 
so  homely  that  the  delicate-fingered  rhetoricians 
would  hardly  have  touched  them  because  of 
their  extreme  plainness  and  commonness — out 
of  these  homely  incidents  Jesus  has  shadowed 
forth  the  inner  force  and  the  outward  o^rowth 
of  his  kingdom.  And  though  he  stood  in  that 
Synagogue  on  that  Sabbath  day,  hated  by  the 
rulers  and  Jews,  having  made  but  little  pro- 
curess in  Q^aininof  disciples,  havinof  aroused  the 
enmity  of  the  learned,  the  wealthy  and  the  gov- 
erning classes  ;  yet  he  knew,  in  his  prescience, 
that  though  he  appeared  to  men  then  as  in- 
significant as  a  mustard  seed,  yet  that  the  relig- 
ion which  he  was  establishing  would  eventually 
spread    far   and  wide,   and  gather  the   nations 

beneath  its   branches  ;  that  the  doctrine  which 

s 


2/4  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

he  then  taught,  as  disagreeable  to  them  then  as 
leaven,  offensive  to  their  natural  taste,  would 
yet,  in  its  silent  operation,  change  the  great 
mass  of  humanity  and  make  it  sweet  and 
wholesome  with  the  sanctifying  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Blessed  be  God  that  these  things 
are  so  ! 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

DINING   WITH  ONE  OF  THE  CHIEF  PHARF 
SEES   ON  THE  SABBATH. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  as  he  went  into  the  house  of  one  of  the  chief 
Pharisees,  to  eat  bread  on  the  Sabbath  day,  that  they  watched  him. 
And,  behold,  there  was  a  certain  man  before  him  which  had  the 
di'opsy.  And  Jesus  answering  spake  unto  the  lawyers  and  Pharisees, 
saying,  Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?  And  they  held  their 
peace.  And  he  took  him,  and  healed  him,  and  let  him  go;  and 
answered  them,  saying,  Which  of  you  shall  have  an  ass  or  an  ox  fallen 
into  a  pit,  and  will  not  straightway  pull  him  out  on  the  Sabbath  day  ? 
And  they  could  not  answer  him  again  to  these  things.  And  he  put 
forth  a  parable  to  those  which  were  bidden,  when  he  marked  how  they 
chose  out  the  chief  rooms;  saying  unto  them,  When  thou  art  bidden 
of  any  man  to  a  wedding,  sit  not  down  in  the  highest  room  ;  lest  a 
more  honorable  man  than  thou  be  bidden  of  him  ;  and  he  that  bade 
thee  and  him  come  and  say  to  thee,  Give  this  man  place ;  and  thou 
begin  with  shame  to  take  the  lowest  room.  But  when  thou  art  bidden, 
go  and  sit  down  in  the  lowest  room ;  that  when  he  that  bade  thee 
Cometh,  he  may  say  unto  thee,  Friend,  go  up  higher  :  then  shalt  thou 
have  worship  in  the  presence  of  them  that  sit  at  meat  with  thee.  For 
whosoever  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  and  he  that  humbleth 
himself  shall  be  exalted.  Then  said  he  also  to  him  that  bade 
him,  When  thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not  thy  friends, 
nor  thy  brethren,  neither  thy  kinsmen,  nor  thy  rich  neighbors; 
lest  they  also  bid  thee  again,  and  a  recompense  be  made  thee.  But 
when  thou  makest  a  feast,  call  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  lame,  the 
blind:  and  thou  shalt  be  blessed;  for  they  cannot  recompense  thee; 
for  thou  shalt  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just.  And 
when  one  of  them  that  sat  at  meat  with  him  heard  these  things,  he 

275 


276  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

said  unto  him,  Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Then  said  he  unto  him,  A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper,  and  bade 
many  :  and  sent  his  servant  at  supper  time  to  say  to  them  that  were  bid- 
den, Come  ;  for  all  things  are  now  ready.  And  they  all  with  one  con- 
sent began  to  make  excuse.  The  first  said  unto  him,  I  have  bought  a 
piece  of  ground,  and  I  must  needs  go  and  see  it:  I  pray  thee  have  me 
excused.  And  another  said,  I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  go 
to  prove  them  :  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused.  And  another  said,  I  have 
married  a  wife,  and  therefore  I  cannot  come.  So  that  servant  came, 
and  showed  his  lord  these  things.  Then  the  master  of  the  house  being 
angry  said  to  his  servant,  Go  out  quickly  into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the 
city,  and  bring  in  hither  the  poor,  and  the  maimed,  and  the  halt,  and 
the  blind.  And  the  servant  said.  Lord,  it  is  done  as  •  thou  hast  com- 
manded, and  yet  there  is  room.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  the  servant, 
Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in, 
that  my  house  may  be  tilled.  For  I  say  unto  you.  That  none  of  those 
men  which  were  bidden  shall  taste  of  my  supper."  St.  Luke  xiv.  1-24. 

HE  incident  which  St.  Luke  thus  de- 
scribes evidently  took  place  in  Perea. 
This  name  (which  is  of  Greek  origin 
and  signifies  "beyond")  \vas  given  to  that  por-. 
tion  of  the  country  lying  east  of  the  Jordan, 
and  includincr  the  Old  Testament  districts  of 
Bashan  and  Gilead ;  the  former,  celebrated  for 
its  cattle,  so  often  alluded  to  by  the  psalmist ; 
the  latter,  for  its  medicinal  gums  and  spices, 
which  were  exported  by  caravans  to  all  the 
surrounding  nations,  and  even  as  far  south  as' 
Egypt. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  and  dangerous  to 
visit  that  country  now.  It  is  wild  and  desolate, 
the  home  of  marauding  Bedouins,  and  shadowed 


DINING    WITH  THE   PHARISEE.  2 77 

here  and  there  by  the  black  encampments  of 
these  nomads,  and  uninviting,  save  to  the  anti- 
quarian, who  seeks  amid  its  hills  and  plains 
and  deserts,  to  explore  the  ruins  of  its  once 
giant  cities.  It  was  in  this  region  that  Jephthah 
gathered  his  host  wherewith  to  invade  Ammon ; 
that  Ish-bosheth,  the  son  of  Saul,  was  taken  by 
Abner  after  his  father's  death  on  Gilboa  and 
made  king  of  Gilead ;  that  David,  fleeing  before 
his  rebellious  son  Absalom,  passed  over  Jordan 
by  night  and  sought  there  a  temporary  shelter ; 
and  Elijah,  "  the  grandest  and  most  romantic 
character  that  Israel  ever  produced,"  lived 
amidst  its  wild  people  and  wild  scenery,  and 
derived  thence  perhaps  mmch  of  that  rugged 
and  uncouth  aspect  which  made  this  man  of 
God  terrible  to  Ahab  and  Jezebel  and  the 
votaries  of  Baal. 

At  the  time  of  our  Lord  the  people  were  a 
mixed  race,  blending  Jev/  and  Gentile,  that 
kind  of  half-breed  border  population  which 
always  fringes  the  edge  of  distinct  national- 
ities and  distinct  religions  as  they  touch  each 
other. 

A.S  part  of  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel  he  must  needs  visit  these  also,  and  hence 

24 


278  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

he  made  a  circuit  ''  throucrh  all  that  rcQ^ion  round 
about." 

Accepting  on  one  Sabbath  day  the  invita- 
tion of  one  of  the  chief  Pharisees  "  to  eat  bread" 
with  him,  he  went  to  the  Pharisee's  house  and 
sat  down  to  meat.  It  shows  our  Lord's  ap- 
preciation of  courteous  hospitality,  and  his 
readiness  to  mingle  with  all  classes,  and  his 
fearlessness  in  the  presence  of  even  his  most 
pronounced  enemies,  as  the  Pharisees  surely 
were,  that  he  should  promptly  accept  the  in- 
vitation thus  tendered  to  him.  We  find  him 
accepting  hospitalities  from  various  classes — the 
publicans,  the  peasants,  the  citizens,  the  Phari- 
sees, the  rich  and  the  poor,  restraining  himself 
to  no  conventional  limits  or  national  prejudices. 

It  seems  that  the  rich  men  in  our  Lord's  time, 
acting  on  the  glosses  and  teachings  of  the  scribes, 
made  Sabbath  feasts  not  only  for  personal  en- 
joyment, but  for  sacred  hospitality.  Special 
directions  were  given  by  the  rabbins  for  the 
preparation  of  the  Sabbath  table  :  "  Let  a  man 
arrange  his  table  and  spread  the  couches,  and 
order  all  the  affairs  of  his  house,  that  he  may 
find  it  ready  and  ordered  when  he  returns  from 
the  Synagogue,  for  Rabbi  Joses   says  that  two 


DINING    WITH  THE   PHARISEE.  2/9 

angels  accompany  a  man  on  the  Sabbath  even- 
ing on  his  return  from  the  Synagogue,  the  one 
good,  the  other  evil.  When  he  comes  to  his 
house,  if  the  Sabbath  lamps  be  found  lighted 
and  the  table  prepared  and  the  couch  spread, 
the  good  angel  says,  God  grant  that  it  may  be 
on  the  next  Sabbath ;  and  the  evil  angel  must 
say  Amen  in  spite  of  himself.  But  if  this  be 
not  the  case,  then  the  evil  angel  says,  God  grant 
that  it  may  be  so  (i.  e.,  no  feast  and  no  prepara- 
tion for  it)  the  next  Sabbath,  and  then  the  good 
spirit  must  say  Amen  in  spite  of  himself"  The 
Sabbath  feast  was  cheerful,  but  religious.  A 
priest  or  scribe  was  usually  invited  to  ask  a 
blessing  and  guide  the  conversation,  and  so  we 
find  Jesus  bidden  as  a  guest  to  the  tables  of  the 
rich,  with  the  design,  it  may  be,  of  securing  a 
blessing  from  his  presence,  for  the  people  gene- 
rally recognized  in  him  a  great  prophet  and  a 
good  man. 

During  this  meal  Jesus  sees  "before  him," 
not  probably  one  of  the  guests,  but  one  who 
had  perhaps  been  aided  in  getting  there  by  his 
friends,  "a  certain  man  which  had  the  dropsy." 
Addressing  the  lawyers  and  Pharisees  who  were 
at  the  table  with  him,  he  asks  the  question,  "  Is 


2 So  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

it  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?"  This 
question  was  one  to  which  different  Rabbis  had 
eiven  different  answers,  and  was  considered 
therefore  as  still  unsettled.  The  question  w^as 
propounded,  not  perhaps  so  much  for  the  pur- 
pose of  getting  an  answer  from  them,  as  to  call 
their  attention  to  what  he  was  about  to  do,  and 
to  brine  the  act  into  the  closest  relation  with 
the  Sabbath  day.  It  w^as  a  premonition  to  them 
that  he  was  going  to  do  one  of  his  mighty 
works,  and  demandinof  their  attention.  To  the 
question  of  Jesus  no  one  replied.  If  they  had 
answered  "  No,"  it  is  not  lawful,  they  knew 
doubtless  that  Jesus  w^ould  answer  them  to  their 
own  confusion.  If  they  said  "  Yes,"  it  was  law- 
ful, then  they  would  put  themselves  in  opposi- 
tion to  many  of  the  received  traditions  of  the 
scribes,  and  thus  bring  upon  themselves  their 
reproach  and  displeasure,  so  "they  held  their 
peace,"  watchinsf  doubtless  with  intense  interest 
wdiat  he  would  do. 

What  he  did,  takes  only  one  line  to  relate, 
but  oh  how  much  does  it  convey  !  "  He  took  him 
and  healed  him  and  let  him  go."  The  long- 
suffering  patient,  burdened  with  a  distressing 
and  most  uncomfortable   disease,  v/as   at  once 


DINING    WITH  THE  PHARISEE.  28 1 

relieved.  The  long  process  of  absorption  which 
takes  place  under  the  best  medical  treatment 
was  here  accomplished  in  a  moment.  The  mian 
who  had  come  into  Jesus'  presence  swollen, 
panting,  heavy,  hopeless  of  cure,  went  from  that 
presence  erect,  Vv^ith  natural  form,  perfectly  re- 
stored to  health  and  strengrth.  What  a  chancre  ! 
Beyond  physicians'  skill !  beyond  the  healing 
virtue  of  anything  in  the  materia  micdlca  of 
nature  !  Only  divine  power  could  disperse  the 
tumid  waters  and  restore  the  diseased  functions 
to  their  wonted  action.  It  was  another  of  the 
many  unsolicited  works  of  mercy  which  Jesus 
wrought  on  the  Sabbath  day. 

So  soon  as  he  had  made  this  cure  and  let  the 
man  go — a  cure  wrought  under  their  full  inspec- 
tion as  to  all  its  circumstances — he  resumed  his 
conversation  with  those  who  sat  at  meat  with 
him  and  asked  another  question,  in  asking  which 
he  placed  his  whole  justification  in  one  pointed 
interrogatory:  "Which  of  you  shall  have  an  ass 
or  an  ox  fallen  into  a  pit,  and  will  not  straight- 
way pull  him  out  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?"  The 
immediate  reply  in  their  minds,  though  it  rose 
not  to  their  lips,  was  doubtless.  We  would  in 
such  a  case   pull  him   out  on  the   Sabbath,  and 


24  * 


282  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD,  ' 

"  They  could  not,"  says  St.  Luke,  "  answer 
him  again  to  these  things."  It  is  not  to  be 
supposed  here  that  silence  implied  consent ; 
on  the  contrary,  the  language  shows  that  they 
w^ould  have  answered  if  they  had  dared,  and 
were  only  withheld  by  a  consciousness  that  by 
so  doing  they  would  encounter  defeat.  The 
miracle  had  been  wrought,  the  man  had  been 
let  go,  the  scoffers  and  objectors  were  silenced 
by  an  apposite  question  which  carried  with  it 
an  unanswerable  argument ;  and  so,  dismissing, 
as  it  were,  the  case,  our  Lord  now  turns  to  an- 
other subject. 

He  had  observed  how  the  several  o^uests  who 
had  been  invited  to  this  feast  chose  out  the 
chief  rooms  or  places  at  the  couches  or  tables 
set  for  them,  marking  their  petty  rivalries  and 
jealousies  as  to  precedence  and  rank,  and  in 
that  spirit  which  sought  to  improve  every  oc- 
casion for  the  teaching  of  sound  truth,  "  he  put 
forth  a  parable  unto  them  that  were  bidden, 
saying  unto  them,  "When  thou  art  bidden  of 
any  man  to  a  wedding,  sit  not  down  in  the 
highest  room,  lest  a  more  honorable  man  than 
thou  be  bidden  of  him  ;  and  he  that  bade  thee 
and  him  come  and  say  to  thee,  Give  this  man 


DINING    WITH  THE  PHARISEE.  283 

place,  and  thou  begin  with  shame  to  take  the 
lowest  room.  But  when  thou  art  bidden  go 
and  sit  down  in  the  lowest  room,  that  when  he 
that  bade  thee  cometh,  he  may  say  unto  thee, 
Friend,  go  up  higher;  then  shalt  thou  have 
worship  in  the  presence  of  them  that  sit  at  meat 
with  thee.  For  whosoever  exalteth  himself  shall 
be  abased ;  and  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall 
be  exalted." 

The  term  "  parable  "  here,  as  applied  to  this 
discourse,  does  not  mean  that  kind  of  utterance 
so  common  to  our  Lord,  whereby  by  similitudes 
taken  from  natural  things  he  Instructed  In  things 
spiritual,  for  in  this  instance  It  was  a  simple 
direction  how  to  proceed  in  an  imaginary  case 
which  might  any  day  become  a  real  one,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  Important 
principle,  that  man  rises  to  greater  height  by 
humility  than  by  self-advanced  claims  to  honor 
and  precedence.  The  parable  borrows  Its  force 
from  the  social  usaQ^es  of  Eastern  life.  The 
"  rooms,"  or  places  at  the  triclinium  or  table, 
were  graded  according  to  the  nicest  distinctions 
of  rank  and  worth,  and  the  most  scrupulous 
regard  to  etiquette  was  observed,  especially  on 
wedding  occasions,  to  which  Jesus  here  referred. 


284  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OJJR   LORD. 

Instead  of  choosing  for  themselves  what 
places  they  should  occupy  at  the  table,  and 
thus  distincrulshinor  between  themselves  and 
others,  they  should  feel  that,  as  all  had  the  same 
invitation  to  the  same  feast,  so  they  should  all 
take  at  first  a  common  level,  and  let  the  places 
of  honor  be  assigned  by  the  lord  of  the  house, 
who,  having  all  the  guests  under  his  eye,  and 
knowing  their  respective  places  in  the  social 
scale,  would  be  better  able  to  say  to  one,  "  Give 
this  man  a  place,"  or  to  another,  "  Friend,  come 
up  higher."  Thus  self-judgment,  self-assump- 
tion, were  condemned.  The  pride  of  rank  that 
creates  so  many  heart-burnings,  especially  when 
self-asserted  in  public  places  and  in  an  offensive 
way,  is  here  rebuked,  and  justly  so;  for,  what  is 
so  offensive  as  bloated  pride  pufiing  up  its  self- 
judged  pretensions,  and  insisting  on  passing 
current  among  men,  according  to  its  own  false 
estimate  and  self-esteem  ? 

Having  thus  quietly  yet  effectively  rebuked 
this  unseemly  contest  for  "  the  chief  rooms  "  of 
the  feast,  Jesus  then  turns  to  the  host  and  gives 
him  a  principle  or  rule  by  which  to  regulate  his 
conduct  on  festive  occasions:  "When  thou 
makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not  thy  friends, 


DINING    WITH  THE  PHARISEE.  '     285 

nor  thy  brethren,  neither  thy  kinsmen,  nor  thy 
rich  neighbors ;  lest  they  also  bid  thee  again, 
and  a  recompense  be  made  thee.  But  when 
thou  makest  a  feast,  call  the  poor,  the  maimed, 
the  halt,  the  blind ;  and  thou  shalt  be  blessed, 
for  they  cannot  recompense  thee,  for  thou  shalt 
be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just." 
The  design  of  our  Lord  by  these  directions, 
judging  from  the  tenor  of  these  words  and  of 
words  of  somewhat  similar  import  used  on  other 
occasions,  was  not  to  condemn  those  social 
gatherings  of  friends  and  neighbors  which  are 
so  common  (for  he  was  then  himself  a  guest 
at  one),  nor  was  It  to  declare  when  dinners 
or  suppers  were  given  that  only  the  poor  and 
cripples  were  to  be  invited,  but  it  was  to  show 
the  paramount  duty  of  practical  kindness  and 
sympathy  with  the  children  of  want  and  afflic- 
tion, over  the  lesser  duty  of  entertaining  friends 
at  set  feasts,  to  the  complete  exclusion  from 
heart  and  home  of  the  poor  and  suffering.  By 
putting  the  first  part  of  his  direction  In  a  nega- 
tive form,  it  was  doubtless  Intended  to  Intenslf}^ 
the  affirmed  duty  of  care  for  the  neglected 
classes — not  that  all  such  feasts  were  prohibited 
or  sinful,  but  such  feasts  alone,  with  nothing  for 


286  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

the  relief  of  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  halt,  the 
blind,  were  sinful.  The  Mosaic  law  made  spe- 
cial provision  for  entertaining  the  fatherless, 
the  widow,  the  stranger,  the  poor,  at  their  social 
feasts,  and  our  Lord  enlarges  and  amplifies  and 
Dlaces  on  a  Christian  basis,  what  was  local  and 
exceptional  in  the  Levitical  code. 

To  spread  a  feast  for  those  who  will  invite  you 
in  return  is  only  to  aggrandize  yourself,  and  to 
seek  the  honor  which  cometh  of  men.  To  make 
a  feast  and  call  to  it  those  whose  poverty  will 
not  permit  them  to  make  any  return  in  kind,  is 
to  be  like  God  himself,  who  sendeth  his  bless- 
ings upon  the  unthankful  and  unholy — those 
who  will  not  return  him  praise — as  well  as  upon 
those  who  recognize  his  favor  and  thank  him  for 
his  grace.  Yet  he  tells  us  in  a  very  marked 
way  that,  though  the  poor  objects  of  our  com- 
passion can  give  us  no  recompense,  we  shall  not 
go  unrewarded,  for  "we  shall  be  recompensed 
at  the  resurrection  of  the  just."  The  deed  will 
not  be  forgotten.  He  who  provideth  for  the 
poor  and  needy  wins  thereby  a  blessing  from 
God ;  and  though  he  receive  not  any  return  In 
this  life,  yet  come  it  will,  when  at  the  resurrec- 
tion, all  that  they  did  for  Christ's  poor  shall  be 


DINING    WITH  THE   PHARISEE.  28/ 

adjudged  as  done  for  Christ  himself,  and  so 
meet  with  a  full  recompense  of  reward.  This 
was  doubtless  the  scope  and  purport  of  our 
Lord's  teaching. 

The  effect  of  these  sentiments  on  one  of 
those  who  sat  at  meat  with  Jesus  was  such 
that  he  broke  forth  Into  an  exclamation  :  *'  Bless- 
ed is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  !"  This  interjection,  from  whatever  motive 
it  sprung,  was  seized  upon  by  our  Lord,  who 
always  found  texts  for  his  discourses  in  the 
words  and  scenes  which  daily  met  his  ear  and 
eye,  to  set  before  the  guests  the  nature  of  the 
kinodom  of  heaven  and  the  conduct  of  men  in 
reference    to    their  invitation    to    its    blesslnors. 

o 

This  parable,  suggested  by  the  then  surround- 
ing circumstances  of  our  Lord,  and  fitting  in 
most  strikingly  with  the  time,  the  place  and  the 
words  already  spoken  by  him,  is  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  parable  of  "  the  marriage 
of  the  king's  son"  recorded  In  the  twenty-second 
chapter  of  Matthew,  though  there  are  several 
strikinof  similarities  between  them. 

The  parable  of  the  royal  marriage  was  spoken 
at  a  later  period  of  our  Lord's  ministry,  under 
circumstances  different  from  those  in  which  he 


288  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

was  now  placed,  and  Is,  In  all  Its  aspects,  severer 
in  Its  condemnation  and  results  upon  those  who 
refuse  the  Invitation  of  the  great  King. 

The  parable  of  "The  Great  Supper  "  sets  forth 
the  rich  spiritual  provisions  which  God  has  pro- 
vided for  his  people  under  the  figure  of  a  ban- 
quet of  fat  things,  the  various  calls  sent  by  his 
older  and  later  servants,  the  manner  In  which 
these  invitations  were  received  by  those  Invited, 
the  subsequent  calling  of  others  to  supply  the 
deficiency  of  the  self-excused  guests,  and  the 
final  exclusion  of  those  who  v/ere  Invited,  but 
declined. 

In  Oriental  countries,  on  occasions  of  great 
feasts,  whether  nuptial  or  social,  the  first  invita- 
tion or  notice  that  It  will  be  given,  is  sent  out 
long  In  advance  of  the  time,  to  give  to  those  in- 
vited opportunity  to  prepare  themselves  for  the 
occasion.  When  the  feast  is  prepared,  then  a 
second  call  is  made  by  servants  in  the  words  of 
the  parable :  *'  Come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready," 
or  as  It  says  in  the  parable  of  the  marriage  of 
the  king's  son,  "  Behold,  I  have  prepared  my 
dinner,  my  oxen  and  fatlings  are  killed,  and  all 
things  are  ready  :  come  unto  the  marriage." 

To  the  first  announcement  of  the  great  sup- 


DINING    WITH  THE  PHARISEE.  289 

per  there  was  no  objection.  The  difficulties 
arose  when  "  the  fullness  of  time  had  come," 
and  the  second  set  of  messenorers  were  sent 
forth  with  the  invitation,  "  Come,  for  all  things 
are  now  ready."  Then  "  they  all  with  one  con- 
sent began  to  make  excuses."  The  excuses 
were  trivial  and  unsatisfactory.  What  though 
one  had  "bought  a  piece  of  ground"?  The  ground 
was  not  movable  or  perishable,  that  he  "  must 
needs  ofo  and  see  it "  now.  It  would  lie  in  the 
same  situation  and  have  the  same  soil  to-mor- 
row that  it  had  to-day,  and  it  was  not  necessary, 
therefore,  to  excuse  himself  on  this  account. 
What  though  another  had  "  bought  five  yoke  of 
oxen  "?  He  could  test  their  strength  and  quality 
to-morrow  as  well  as  now,  and  there  was  no 
pressing  reason,  therefore,  why  he  should  neglect 
the  supper  to  "go  and  prove  them."  What 
thoueh  another  had  "  married  a  wife  "?  Was  she 
not  given  to  him  to  be  his  companion  for  life, 
and  could  he  not  spare  a  day  to  attend  at  the 
feast?  and  this  excuse,  therefore,  like  the  former, 
was  worthless  and  insulting.  _  They  were  all 
irrational,  in  themselves  considered,  and  they 
were  insulting  to  the  Giver  of  the  "great  sup- 
per," as   treating    lightly  and  with  Indifference 

25  T 


290  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

his  invitation  and  his  feast.  They  showed  that 
they  preferred  farms,  and  merchandise,  and 
pleasure,  to  association  with  him  in  the  festiv- 
ities which  he  had  been  so  long  and  so  elabo- 
rately preparing. 

When  these  paltry  excuses  were  reported  to 
the  "  Master  of  the  house,"  no  wonder  it  made' 
him  angry,  for  it  was  treating  him  with  disdain  ; 
and  turning  to  his  servant,  and  changing  at 
once  the  purpose  and  character  of  the  feast,  he 
tells  him  to  "go  out  quickly  into  the  streets  and 
lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring  in  hither  the  poor 
and  the  maimed  and  the  halt  and  the  blind." 
The  servant  obeyed.  These  last  made  no  ob- 
jection— they  came  readily  and  gladly ;  but  so 
extensive  had  been  the  preparation  for  this  sup- 
per that,  notwithstanding  so  many  had  been 
thus  extemporized  as  guests,  there  yet  was 
room.  The  generous  host,  not  willing  that  any 
portion  should  be  wasted  or  unconsumed,  di- 
rected the  servant,  who  had  already,  it  seems, 
thoroughly  scoured  the  city,  to  go  out  into  the 
highways  and  hedges,  and  "  compel  them  to 
come  in,  that  my  house  may  be  filled,"  while  of 
the  originally  invited  yet  refusing  guests  he 
said  not  one  of  them  "  shall  taste  of  my  sup- 


DINING    WITH  THE   PHARISEE.  29 1 

per."  Thus  our  Lord  illustrated  to  his  audience 
the  treatment  which  the  gospel  feast  received 
at  their  hands.  When  first  announced,  it  was 
heard  of  with  joy,  but  when  in  the  nearer  prep- 
aration for  it,  the  call  came  which  required  of 
them  the  giving  up  of  something  in  which  their 
heart  was  interested,  the  temporary  forsaking 
of  wife  and  houses  and  lands,  in  order  to  attend 
the  great  ''  Master  of  the  house,"  then  their  un- 
willingness and  indifference  came  out  into  a 
positive  refusal  to  obey  the  summons.  So  it  is 
now.  The  excuses  of  the  parable  are  daily 
repeated,  and  men  still  delude  themselves  with 
frivolous  reasons  for  not  accepting  the  invita- 
tions of  the  gospel,  forgetting  the  while,  that 
Christ  sees  through  their  self-cheating  hypoc- 
risy, and  knows  that  at  the  bottom  of  the  pre- 
tendedly  courteous  words,  "  I  pray  thee  have  me 
excused,"  lies  a  bitter  hatred  of  the  glorious 
Giver.  Of  the  great  majority  of  those  to  whom 
the  gospel  invitation  comes  may  it  be  said  that 
they  either  ''make  light  of  it"  by  neglect,  or 
else  begin  to  make  excuse  for  non-acceptance. 
They  are  all  alive  to  their  temporal  interests — to 
advance  these  they  will  toil  and  make  sacrifices  ; 
but  when  the  salvation  of  the  soul  is  set  before 


292  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

them,  when  they  are  exhorted  to  repent,  and 
invited  to  the  gospel  feast,  then  they  are  so 
pressed  down  with  the  cares  and  business  and 
riches  and  pleasures  of  this  world,  that  they 
have  no  time  for  the  hlc^her  and  eternal  Interests 
of  their  Immortal  souls.  It  Is  a  sad  but  true 
portraiture  of  the  treatment  men  give  to  the 
messengers,  the  Invitation,  and  the  Giver,  of  the 
gospel  feast. 

We  cannot  fall  to  observe  the  singular  unity 
of  thought  which  pervades  all  this  discourse  of 
our  Lord  in  the  house  of  this  Pharisee,  and  how 
admirably  the  scene  and  the  occasion  Is  made 
the  web  which  is  so  beautifully  filled  In  with 
Illustration,  exhortation  and  parable.  All  his 
talk  has  some  relation  to  what  is  going  on  in 
his  presence.  There  is  nothing  far-fetched.  His 
Ideas  spring  up  from  the  roots  of  things  at 
hand,  and  his  words,  therefore,  so  far  from 
being  forced  upon  the  unwilling  ears  of  his 
auditors,  flow  out  with  a  naturalness  and  grace- 
fulness inimitably  beautiful.  We  are  thus  taught 
by  the  example  of  our  Lord  how  to  mingle  our 
discourse  with  the  salt  of  grace  if  we  would  have 
it  savory  and  wholesome. 

What  a  dignity  invests  our  Lord  as  he  thus 


DINING    WITH  THE   PHARISEE.  293 

« 

sits  at  the  Pharisee's  table,  and  without  crinorinor 
to  rank,  without  truckling  to  Influential  men, 
without  lowerlnof  himself  to  the  level  of  their 
carnal  minds  and  without  giving  any  just  offence, 
he  yet  tells  them  great  truths  In  plain  language, 
with  pertinent  illustration  and  with  the  majesty 
of  a  teacher  sent  from  God,  speaking  to  them 
*'  as  one  that  had  authority  and  not  as  the 
scribes  "!  If  to  all  our  feasts  Jesus  were  Invited, 
and  if  his  words  were  the  chief  words  heard 
there,  how  would  his  name  be  as  ointment 
poured  forth,  and  the  whole  house  where  he 
was  thus  received,  and  his  w^ords  thus  honored, 
would  be  filled  with  the  fragrance  of  the  oint- 
ment. So  will  it  be  in  all  its  ineffable  fullness  of 
joy  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  in  the 
guest  chamber  of  heaven. 

25  * 


CHAPTER    XV. 


THE    SABBATH  AT  BETHANY. 


*'  Now  when  Jesus  was  in  Bethany,  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper, 
there  came  unto  him  a  woman  having  an  alabaster  box  of  very  pre- 
cious ointment,  and  poured  it  on  his  head,  as  he  sat  at  meat.  But  when 
his  disciples  saw  it,  they  had  indignation,  saying.  To  what  purpose  is 
this  waste?  P'or  this  ointment  might  have  been  sold  for  much,  and 
given  to  the  poor.  When  Jesus  understood  it,  he  said  unto  them,  Why 
trouble  ye  the  woman  ?  for  she  hath  wrought  a  good  work  upon  me. 
For  ye  have  the  poor  always  with  you ;  but  me  ye  have  not  always. 
For  in  that  she  hath  poured  this  ointment  on  my  body,  she  did  it  for 
my  burial.  Verily  \  say  unto  you,  Wheresoever  this  gospel  shall  be 
preached  in  the  whole  world,  there  shall  also  this,  that  this  woman 
hath  done,  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her.  Then  one  of  the  twelve, 
called  Judas  Iscariot,  went  unto  the  chief  priests,  and  said  imto  them. 
What  will  ye  give  me,  and  I  will  deliver  him  unto  you  ?  And  they 
covenanted  with  him  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  And  from  that  time 
he  sought  opportunity  to  betray  him."  St.  Matthew  xxvi.  6-16, 

"  And  being  in  Bethany,  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper,  as  he  sat  at 

meat,  there  came  a  woman  having  an  alabaster  box  of  ointment  of 

spikenard  very  precious;  and  she  brake  the  box,  and  poured  it  on  his 

head.     And  there  were  some  that  had  indignation  within  themselves, 

and  said,  Why  was  this  waste  of  the  ointment  made  ?     For  it  might 

have  been  sold  for  more  than  three  hundred  pence,  and  have  been 

given  to  the  poor.     And  they  murmured  against  her.     And  Jesus  said, 

Let  her  alone;  why  trouble  ye  her?  she  hath  wrought  a  good  work  on 

me.     For  ye  have  the  poor  with  you  always,  and  whensoever  ye  will  ye 

may  do  them  good  :  but  me  ye  have  not  always.     She  hath  done  what 

she  could  :   she  is  come  aforehand  to  anoint  my  body  to  the  burying. 

Verily  I  say  unto   you,  Wheresoever  this  gospel  shall    be   preached 

294 


o 
o 


si 

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;-! 

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Si 

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Si 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY. 


295 


throughout  the  whole  world,  this  also  that  she  hath  done  shall  be 
spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her.  And  Judas  Iscariot,  one  of  the  twelve, 
went  unto  the  chief  priests,  to  betray  him  unto  them.  And  when  they 
heard  it,  they  were  glad,  and  promised  to  give  him  money.  And  he 
sought  how  he  might  conveniently  betray  him."  St.  Mark  xiv.  3-11- 

"  Then  Jesus  six  days  before  the  passover  came  to  Bethany,  where 
Lazarus  was  which  had  been  dead,  whom  he  raised  from  the  dead. 
There  they  made  him  a  supper ;  and  Martha  served  :  but  Lazarus  was 
one  of  them  that  sat  at  the  table  with  him.  Then  took  Mary  a  pound 
of  ointment  of  spikenard,  very  costly,  and  anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus, 
and  wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair  :  and  the  house  was  filled  with  the 
odor  of  the  ointment.  Then  saith  one  of  his  disciples,  Judas  Iscar- 
iot, Simon's  son,  which  should  betray  him.  Why  was  not  this  ointment 
sold  for  three  hundred  pence,  and  given  to  the  poor?  This  he  said, 
not  that  he  cared  for  the  poor ;  but  because  he  was  a  thief,  and  had  the 
bag,  and  bare  what  was  put  therein.  Then  said  Jesus,  Let  her  alone  : 
against  the  day  of  my  burying  hath  she  kept  this.  For  the  poor  always 
ye  have  with  you ;  but  me  ye  have  not  always.  Much  people  of  the 
Jews  therefore  knew  that  he  was  there  :  and  they  came  not  for  Jesus' 
sake  only,  but  that  they  might  see  Lazarus  also,  whom  he  had  raised 
from  the  dead.  But  the  chief  priests  consulted  that  they  might  put 
Lazarus  also  to  death  ;  because  that  by  reason  of  him  many  of  the  Jews 
went  away,  and  believed  on  Jesus."  St.  John  xii.  i-ii. 


E  come  now  to  our  Lord's  last  Sabbath 
before  his  crucifixion.  His  earthly  life 
is  drawing  to  its  end.  In  less  than  six 
days  he  will  be  lying  dead  in  the  tomb.  It  will 
not  be  uninteresting,  therefore,  to  mark  how  he 
spent  this  Sabbath,  and  yet  but  little  Is  told  us 
concerning  a  day  which  to  him  must  have 
been  one  of  mingled  joy  and  sorrow — joy.  In 
that  his  work  was  so  nearly  "  finished ;"  sorrow, 
in  that  he  had  yet  to  pass  such  scorching  agony 
on  his  way  to  glory. 


296  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

He  was  now  in  Bethany,  a  word  which  means 
**  the  house  of  dates  or  pahns,"  named  thus, 
probably,  from  the  palm-dates  which  grew  there. 
It  is  situated  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  about  three  miles  distant  from  Jeru- 
salem, and  not  far  from  the  road  that  leads  to 
Jericho.  It  was  unknown  in  Old  Testament 
history,  and  comes  into  view  principally  as  the 
home  of  Lazarus  and  his  sisters  Mary  and 
Martha.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  beauty 
of  this  mountain  hamlet  in  the  palmy  days  of 
Israel,  when  the  land  teemed  with  inhabitants 
and  its  well-cultivated  soil  richly  repaid  the 
labor  of  the  husbandman,  it  is  now  an  un- 
sightly place,  with  a  few  wretchedly-built  stone 
houses,  and  the  support  of  the  miserable  inhab- 
itants who  kennel  there,  rather  than  keep  house 
there,  is  largely  derived  from  the  exactions 
made  upon  credulous  travelers,  in  conducting 
them  to  the  legendary  house  of  Simon  the 
leper,  and  to  the  so-called  tomb  of  Lazarus. 
All  that  we  gather  in  reference  to  the  family  in 
Bethany,  where  Jesus  spent  the  last  days  of  his 
earthly  life,  leaves  the  impression  of  a  home  of 
comfort,  peace  and  love ;  and  in  the  quiet  of 
this   domestic   circle   he   found,   doubtless,   that 


77JE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY,  297 

repose  which  seemed  so  needful  to  him,  amidst 
the  intense  labors  of  Passover  week,  wherein 
mind  and  body  were  taxed  in  all  their  powers. 

Simon  the  leper  Is  generally  regarded  as  the 
father  of  Lazarus  and  his  two  sisters.  Whether 
he  was  dead,  and  the  name  of  the  father,  as 
was  then  customary,  still  clung  to  the  house ;  or 
whether,  being  a  leper,  he  was  then  under  the 
ban  of  the  Levitical  law,  and  an  exile  from  his 
home,  a  dweller  in  some  waste  place  void  of 
human  habitation,  we  know  not. 

So  many  fanciful  conjectures  have  been  made 
In  reference  to  him  and  his  children  and  circum- 
stances, and  that  too  by  commentators  who  are 
generally  cautious,  that  pretty  romances  might 
be  woven  out  of  their  speculations,  though  we 
must  remember  that  all  which  they  say  Is  gra- 
tuitous, and  probably  apocryphal. 

The  household  at  this  visit  consisted  of  Mary, 
Martha  and  their  brother  Lazarus.  The  cha- 
racters of  the  sisters  are  brought  out  in  some 
delicate  touches  of  St.  John's  pencil,  and  in  the 
records  left  us  by  the  other  Evangelists.  Mary, 
who  seems  to  have  been  the  mistress  of  the 
house  and  dispensed  Its  hospitalities,  was  of  a 
gentle,    loving,    contemplative    cast    of    mind. 


2gS  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Anxious  to  drink  In  the  gracious  words  of  life 
which  fell  from  Jesus'  lips,  she  sat  at  his  feet, 
and  chose,  as  our  Lord  himself  told  us,  "  that 
good  part  which  shall  not  be  taken  from  her." 
Martha  was  of  a  more  active  temperament,  full 
of  housewifely  cares  and  bustling  with  all  the 
energies  of  a  hospitable  nature :  in  the  words 
of  St.  Luke,  ''  she  was  cumbered  about  much 
serving,"  was  Impatient  at  the  meditative  cha- 
racter of  her  sister,  and  hence  asked  Jesus, 
with  words  of  haste  and  censure,  *'  Lord,  dost 
thou  not  care  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to 
serve  alone  ?  Bid  her  therefore  that  she  help 
me."  To  this  querulous  request,  showing  how 
completely  worldly  things  had  gained  an  ascend- 
ency over  her — It  being  In  her  estimate  more 
important  to  serve  tables,  than  sit  at  Jesus'  feet 
and  listen  to  his  words — Jesus,  who  read  hei 
through  and  through,  replied,  not  by  doing  as 
she  wanted  him  to  do,  send  Mary  to  her  help, 
and  thus  countenance  her  undue  secularlty,  but 
he  gently  reproves  her,  saying,  "  Martha ! 
Martha !  thou  art  careful  and  troubled  about 
many  things,  but  one  thing  is  needful" — viz., 
that  "good  part"  w^hich  Mary  had  chosen,  im- 
plying thereby  that  Martha  had  it  not. 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY.  299 

The  same  traits  come  out  as^ain  in  the  man- 
ner  in  which  the  bereaved  sisters  receive  Jesus 
after  the  death  of  the  brother,  Lazarus.  Martha, 
''as  soon  as  she  heard  that  Jesus  was  coming, 
went  to  meet  him  ;  but  Mary  sat  still  in  the 
house"  until  Martha  brought  her  word,  "The 
Master  is  come,  and  calleth  for  thee.  As  soon 
as  she  heard  that  she  arose  quickly  and  came 
unto  him."  When  Martha  went  to  Jesus,  she 
refrained  from  tears,  and  after  giving  way  to 
one  burst  of  feeling  in  the  exclamation,  "  Lord, 
if  thou  hadst  been  here  my  brother  had  not 
died,"  intimates  to  him  to  ask  of  God  to  bring 
him  back  to  her;  for  it  w^as  not  until  after  a 
brief  conference  on  the  subject  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  Jesus'  announcing  himself  as  "the 
resurrection  and  the  life,"  that  she  w^as  able  to 
say,  "  I  believe  that  thou  art  the  Christ."  When 
Mary  went  at  Christ's  call,  she  at  once  fell  down 
at  Christ's  feet;  and  though  she  greeted  him 
with  the  same  hopeless  and  sad  words  as  di^d 
Martha,  "  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here  my 
brother  had  not  died,"  yet  she  entered  into  no 
argument,  displayed  no  doubt,  but  burst  into 
tears,  and  thus  drew  sympathetic  tears  from 
the  eyes  of  Jesus — "Jesus  wept." 


300  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

The  Sabbath  at  Bethany,  on  which  our  minds 
are  now  bent,  was  one  after  Lazarus  had  been 
raised  from  the  dead.  We  do  not  wonder  at 
the  love,  devotion  and  service  of  the  sisters  to 
Jesus,  after  receiving  not  only  such  a  boon  in 
the  restored  life  of  a  beloved  brother,  but  such 
a  sure  indication  and  proof  that  he  was,  as 
Martha  said,  "  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  that 
should  come  into  the  world."  Gratitude  and 
religion,  personal  affection  and  spiritual  rev- 
erence, combined  to  make  him  welcome  to  their 
house,  and  love  for  their  risen  brother,  and  love 
for  the  Master  who  raised  him  from  the  dead, 
united  to  offer  joint  homage  to  Him  who  had 
so  sublimely  announced  himself  to  Martha  as 
''the  Resurrection  and  the  Life." 

The  supper,  or  dinner,  was  given  on  the  Sab- 
bath. Jesus'  disciples  were  with  him.  Other 
euests  were  doubtless  there,  as  this  seems  to 
have  been  a  thanksgiving  feast  for  the  recovery 
of  Lazarus  from  the  grave.  Lazarus  is  present, 
and  sits  and  eats  at  the  table.  Martha  is  there, 
serving,  as  is  her  wont.  Mary  Is  there  also, 
but  not  servine  in  the  sense  that  Martha  is,  nor 
yet  sitting  at  meat,  as  her  brother  did,  but  dur- 
ing the    progress   of   the    meal   she  comes   in, 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY.  3OI 

brinorlnor  with  her  '*an  alabaster  box  contalnlne 
a  pound  of  spikenard  ointment,  very  costly." 
Approaching  the  table  at  which  Jesus  reclined 
In  such  a  manner  as  that  his  feet  were  projected 
toward  the  wall,  and  thus  rendered  easily  ac- 
cessible, she  goes  behind  him,  breaks  the  beau- 
tiful vase  in  which  this  most  celebrated  and 
most  precious  of  all  odoriferous  ointments  was 
contained,  and  pours  It  out  upon  his  head  and 
feet  In  such  lavish  profusion  that  all  "the  house 
was  filled  with  the  odor  of  the  ointment/'  Not 
content  with  this  loving  tribute,  she  bends  over 
his  sacred  feet  and  wipes  them  dry  "  with  the 
hair  of  her  head,"  as  if  to  show  by  this  unusual 
service  her  intense  gratitude  and  devotion  to 
her  Lord  and  Master.  She  had  sat  at  Jesus' 
feet  as  a  learner;  she  now  stood  there  as  his 
lovlnof  servant.  She  had  received  from  him 
"that  better- part,"  that  heavenly  portion,  more 
costly  and  precious  than  any  earthly  gift ;  and 
now  she  seeks  to  show  her  sense  of  Its  worth 
by  that  costly  offering  of  spikenard,  and  that 
servant-like  act  of  anointing  his  head  and  feet, 
and  that  still  more  unusual  wiping  of  his  feet 
with  her  hair,  which  in  the  aggregate  evinced 
the  most  intense  self-consecration  to  his  service. 

26 


302  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Jesus  quietly  accepted  this  fragrant  tribute  of 
Mary's  love.  He  knew  what  prompted  it,  its 
perfect  purity  and  Its  full  significance,  and  we 
may  Imagine  that  he  did  not  fail  to  express  his 
emotions  In  lano^uao^e  befittlnof  the  occasion. 
In  the  account  of  this  transaction  by  St.  Mat- 
thew and  St.  Mark,  Mary's  name  is  not  men- 
tioned. Perhaps  she  was  living  when  they 
wrote,  and  it  was  not  deemed  best  to  attract 
attention  to  her  at  that  time  of  persecution. 
St.  John  wrote  at  a  much  later  date ;  and  as  she 
had  then  died,  he  made  known  her  name,  and 
told  us  what  the  other  writers  omitted,  that  she 
"anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  wiped  them  with 
the  hair  of  her  head" — two  incidents,  each  pecu- 
liarly expressive  and,  in  their  minuteness  of  detail, 
addlne  much  to  the  Interest  of  the  narrative. 

This  act  of  Mary  did  not,  however,  escape 
condemnation,  and  even  "  indignation,"  on  the 
part  of  some  of  the  disciples,  first  "within  them- 
selves" in  secret  conference,  then  outspoken 
through  the  lips  of  Judas  Iscariot,  who,  acting 
as  the  mouth-piece  of  the  disaffected  ones, 
asked,  "Why  was  this  waste  of  the  ointment 
made?  for  it  miorht  have  been  sold  for  more 
than  three  hundred  pence,  and  have  been  given 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY.  303 

to    the     poor;"    and    thus     ''they    murmured 
against "  the  loving  Mary. 

As  it  is  St.  John  only  who  mentions  the  name 

of  the  speaker,  Judas  Iscarlot,  and  as  he  only 

tells  us  the  hidden  motive  of  his  indignation — viz., 

"not  that  he  cared  for  the  poor,  but  because  he 

was  a  thief  and  had  the  bag,  and  bare  what  was 

put  therein  " — we  are  led  to  Infer  that  he  first 

suggested  the  wastefulness  of  this  anointing  to 

the  other  disciples,  who  thoughtlessly  chimed  in 

with  his  ideas,  led  thereto  by  the  unexampled 

value  and  profusion  of  spending  a  pound  of 

spikenard    on  one    person.      As    the    common 

treasurer  of  the  band  of  the  disciples,  receiving 

and  expending  what  was  put  in  and  taken  out 

of  the  bag  or  purse  for  their  daily  expenses,  he 

had  already  proved  himself  a  thief;  and  if  the 

three  hundred  denarii,  equivalent  to  about  fifty 

dollars,  which  he  says  this  ointment  would  have 

brought  had  it  been  sold,  had  been  also  placed 

in  the  bag,  he  would  have  had  larger  sums  from 

which  to  peculate,  and  thus  more  readily  gratify 

his  lucre-loving  heart.     But  Jesus  rebuked  the 

murmurers,    saying,    ''Let   her   alone;"    "why 

trouble  ye  the  woman  ?"  as  If  they  were  noisily 

reprimanding  and  faulting  her  for  her  conduct. 


304  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

and  he  then  declares  that  her  work  was  a 
"good"  one  and  met  his  approval.  "The 
poor,"  for  whose  relief  you  express  such  con- 
cern, "you  always  have  with  you,  and  when- 
soever ye  will,  ye  may  do  good  to  them ;  but 
me,"  he  touchingly  adds,  "  ye  have  not  always  " 
— a  distinct  allusion  to  his  speedy  departure 
from  them,  the  nearness  of  which  no  one  but 
himself  knew. 

In  this  rebuke  of  Jesus  to  these  penurious 
men,  who  were  so  indignant  at  what  to  them 
was  wasted  wealth,  do  we  not  find  a  virtual  ap- 
proval by  him  of  every  costly  act  which  true, 
love  prompts  us  to  bestow  upon  him  ?  Is 
there  not  an  intimation  that  nothing  is  too  valu- 
able to  be  expended  on  his  person  ?  and  that 
genuine  affection  will  ever  lead  to  generous 
gifts  for  his  use  and  service  ?  And  is  there  not 
the  further  intimation  that,  while  the  poor  are 
ever  to  be  objects  of  our  compassion  and 
chanty,  yet  no  wrong  Is  done  to  them  when, 
under  the  stress  of  some  great  mercy,  temporal 
or  spiritual,  the  heart,  stirred  to  its  depths  with 
emotions  of  o^ratitude,  seeks  some  outward  and 
costly  way  whereby  to  show  its  devotion,  and 
lavishes  its  wealth  upon  some  work  for  Jesus  in 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY.  305 

a  manner  which  the  envious  and  the  unloving 
and  the  coldly  calculating  may  denounce  as 
unnecessary  and  wasteful  ? 

We  cannot  now  give  personal  gifts  or  person- 
al service  to  Jesus  Christ,  as  Mary  and  Martha 
did.  But  in  the  same  spirit  which  prompted 
Mary  to  spend  so  large  a  sum  In  an  alabaster 
box  of  ointment,  which  prompted  Martha  at  the 
same  feast  to  serve — viz.,  the  spirit  of  grateful 
recoo^nltlon  of  divine  mercies — we  can  now 
commemorate  God's  loving-kindness  to  us  by 
building  a  church,  a  parsonage,  an  asylum,  an 
orphan  house,  by  endowing  a  scholarship  or 
a  professorship  In  some  school  of  the  prophets 
as  love's  offerlnof,  maklnor  it  our  alabaster  box  of 
ointment  to  the  risen  and  ascended  Jesus. 

Such  gifts  as  these  are  often  done,  doubtless, 
out  of  a  desire  to  perpetuate  a  family  name, 
for  mere  ostentation,  from  a  spirit  of  rivalry; 
but  when  done  because  Christ  is  loved,  and  the 
love  seeks  to  express  itself  in  some  costly  w^ay, 
then  will  he  approve  the  gift  and  accept  the 
service  and  bless  the  giver.  Nothing  is  too 
munificent  for  Christ  if  done  out  of  real  love 
for  Christ :  love  consecrates  It  all  to  Jesus. 

Having  thus  vindicated  Mary  from  the  Indlg- 

1^=^  u 


306  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

nation  of  these  murmurers,  Jesus  proceeds  to 
speak  of  the  symbolical  character  of  this  act: 
''  She  hath  done  what  she  could  ;"  ''  aeainst  the 
day  of  my  burying  hath  she  kept  this ;"  "  for  in 
that  she  hath  poured  this  ointment  on  my  body, 
she  did  it  for  my  burial."- 

There  is  great  solemnity  and  significance  in 
these  words.  It  was  a  noble  commendation  for 
him  to  say  of  her,  "  She  hath  clone  what  she 
could;"  no  woman  could  have  a  higher  eulogy, 
especially  when  spoken  by  Him  who  knows  the 
thoughts  and  hearts  of  men  and  what  she  had 
done  in  his  service.  May  not  the  words,  *'  She 
hath  done  what  she  could,"  looking  at  this  act 
of  Mary  from  the  point  of  view  from  which 
Jesus  seemed  then  to  contemplate  it,  mean  that 
in  his  estimation,  though  undesignedly  in  hers, 
she,  Vv^ho  w^ould  be  unable  to  be  near  him  when 
he  died,  had,  almost  in  prevision  of  that  burial, 
come  now  to  do  what  she  could  do,  anoint  while 
living,  the  body  which  she  could  not  see  or 
anoint  at  his  death?  or  had  there  been  given 
to  her  that  foresight,  such  as  was  occasionally 
given  even  to  women  at  that  day  (as  to  the  four 
daughters  of  Philip  the  Evangelist),  by  which  she 
was  able  to  discern  the  transaction  of  Calvary 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY.  307 

and  the  sepulchre,  and  conscious  that  she  could 
not  be  v/ith  Jesus  then,  came  now  "  beforehand 
to  anoint  him  for  his  burial "  ?  It  was  thus  at 
least  that  our  Lord  accepted  the  unction  and 
blessed  her  for  it.  Nor  would  he  have  spoken 
such  unusually  commendatory  words  had  he 
not  fully  approved  the  act  itself  in  all  its  ap- 
parent prodigality  of  expense,  and  in  all  the 
depth  of  its  profound  symbolism. 

As  an  offset  to  his  disciples'  murmuring,  Jesus 
gives  praise,  and  their  momentary  indignation 
is  set  over  aofainst  the  declaration  that  the  fame 
of  that  act  would  be  coincident  with  the  progress 
of  the  gospel,  and  ever  redound  to  the  honor 
of  Mary  of  Bethany. 

Consequent  on  this  Sabbath  scene  in  Beth- 
any Is  Judas'  visit  to  the  chief  priest  for 
the  purpose  of  negotiating  the  terms  for  his 
betrayal  of  Jesus.  We  do  not  knov/  that  he 
went  immediately  after  being  rebuked  "to  them, 
though  the  language  strongly  implies  it.  St. 
John  tells  us  that  ''ihen  entered  Satan  into 
Judas  surnamed  Iscariot,  being  of  the  number 
of  the  twelve."  That,  doubtless,  was  the  hour 
and  place  when,  yielding  to  the  temptation, 
"  Satan  entered   into   him."      As   if  from  that 


308  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

moment  his  body  and  soul  had  become  Satan's 
by  right  of  occupancy  and  willingly  conceded 
possession.  Satan  entered  that  body  as  its 
master,  and  kept  possession  of  it  till  Judas, 
under  his  instigation,  ''went  and  hanged  him- 
self." 

We  need  not  stop  to  speculate  as  to  the 
various  motives  which  prompted  his  immediate 
communing  with  the  chief  priests  and  captains 
of  the  temple  guard  how  he  might  betray  him 
unto  them,  for  all  is  explained  when  we  find 
him  yielding  up  his  whole  being  to  Satan,  and 
acting  as  his  agent  in  this  deed  of  crime.  No 
doubt  these  enemies  of  our  Lord  were  glad  to 
find  a  betrayer,  and  chuckled  with  fiendish 
delight  over  the  fact  that  one  of  his  own  house- 
hold band — a  professed  disciple — voluntarily 
came  forward  to  do  what  they  so  much  desired — 
put  him  into  their  hands;  for  "the  chief  priests 
and  Pharisees  had  given  a  commandment  (or 
proclamation)  that  if  any  man  knew  where  he 
were,  he  should  show  it,  that  they  might  take 
him."  Little  did  they  imagine  that  such  good 
luck,  as  they  would  term  it,  would  enable  them 
to  secure,  and  that  too  without  any  public 
tumult    or   rising   of  his    friends,  their   victim. 


♦'  What  will  ye  give  me,  and  I  will  deliver  him  unto  you?" 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY.  309 

But  indignant  as  Judas  is,  he  wants  to  bargain 
with  them  and  gain  advantage  to  himself,  and 
so  he  haggles  with  them  for  a  price,  saying, 
"What  will  ye  give  me,  and  I  will  deliver  him 
unto  you  ?"  Here  his  covetousness,  his  money- 
loving  heart,  showed  itself  again  with  fearful 
significance.  It  was  with  that  key  that  Satan 
unlocked  Judas'  heart,  and  went  in  and  took 
possession  of  it,  already  prepared  by  its  love  of 
money  for  such  a  guest.  Judas  enters  into 
covenant  with  the  rulers  to  betray  him  to  them 
"  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver  "  (eighteen  dollars  !)  ; 
he  thus  sells  the  Lord  of  glory  at  the  then 
market-price  of  a  slave,  and  in  so  doing  uncon- 
sciously fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah  (xi. 
12,  13),  ''So  they  weighed  for  my  price  thirty 
pieces  of  silver." 

How  little  must  he  have  valued  Jesus,  and 
how  much  must  he  have  valued  the  thirty 
shekels,  when  he  could  barter  the  one  for  the 
other,  and  accept  the  latter  as  an  equivalent  for 
the  former !  We  cannot  pause  here  to  discuss 
the  many  questions  and  points  which  arise  out 
of  this  transaction.  The  character  of  Judas  is 
still  a  mystery,  and  the  fact  that  our  Lord,  with 
his  acknowledged  and  often  manifested  omni- 


310  THE   SABBATHS   OF   OUR   LORD. 

science,  should  select  him  to  be  one  of  the 
twelve,  is  also  a  great  mystery.  It  is  wonderful 
that  he  should  have  been  for  three  years  a 
chosen  companion  of  our  Lord,  seeing  him  in 
public  and  in  private,  hearing  him  in  the  house 
and  in  the  Synagogue,  witnessing  his  miracles 
of  power  and  of  mercy,  and  yet  be  so  base  as 
to  betray  him  to  his  enemies.  Jesus  may  well 
term  him  "  the  son  of  perdition,"  one  who  is 
moved  by  the  spirit  of  Abaddon  (Rev.  ix.  ii), 
the  king  of  the  bottomless  pit,  leading  others 
to  destruction,  and  ending  himself  in  perdition. 
This  history  furnishes  many  forcible  lessons 
which  it  behooves  all  Christ's  professing  dis- 
ciples to  learn  to  their  souls'  health.  How,  for 
example,  does  his  case  tell  us  that  outward 
intimacy  with  Christ,  professing  to  be  his  fol- 
lower, recognition  by  the  world  as  one  of  his 
disciples,  do  not  ensure  salvation !  How  does 
it  tell  us  also,  that  the  most  blessed  privileges 
of  communion  with  Jesus  may  yet  be  perverted 
to  purposes  of  deadly  crime,  and,  instead  of 
softening,  harden  the  heart !  How  does  it  tell 
us  that  the  piqued  pride  or  offended  dignity 
will  bide  its  time  of  vengeance  in  the  hope  of 
more  surely  compassing  its  end !     How  does  it 


THE   SABBATH  AT  BETHANY.  31  I 

lell  US  the  tempting  power  of  money,  and  that 
the  "  love  "  of  it  is  indeed  "  the  root  of  all  evil "  ! 
and  how  does  it  warn  us  with  stentorian  voice. 
•*  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed 
lest  he  fall "  !  These  are  some  of  the  many 
teachings  of  this  traitor'5  life  and  doom.  It  is  a 
beacon  set  up  on  the  ledge  of  covetousness 
and  disappointed  ambition,  w^hereon  even  an 
apostle  was  wrecked,  warning  off"  others  from 
the  treacherous  rocks  and  heraldino^  to  all  the 
future,  the  fearful  fate  of  one  nominally  Christ's 
disciple,  but  really  "a  son  of  perdition."  "Mark 
the  striking  contrast,"  says  Dr.  Schaff,  "  between 
the  money-box  of  Judas  and  the  alabaster  box 
of  Mary ;  his  thirty  pieces  of  silver  and  her 
three  hundred  pence  ;  his  love  of  money  and 
her  liberality  ;  his  hypocritical  profession  of 
concern  for  the  poor  and  her  noble  deed  for 
the  Lord  ;  his  wretched  end  and  her  blessed 
memory  throughout  the  Christian  world  to  the 
end  of  time." 

The  character  and  act  of  Mary  teach  us 
lessons  also  of  inestimable  value.  They  show 
us  how  love  overcomes  natural  diffidence  in  her 
anxiety  to  do  something  for  Jesus.  They  show 
us  that  nothing  is  too  costly  so  long  as  by  it 


312  THE   SABBATHS    OF   OUR   LORD. 

we  anoint  Jesus  and  make  his  name  and  his 
person  "as  ointment  poured  forth."  They  show 
us  that  Jesus  appreciates  and  will  reward  such 
service  and  worship,  while  sordid  parsimony 
or  covetous  longing,  veiled  under  the  pretence 
of  care  for  the  poor,  will  receive  his  just  rebuke. 
And  now  this  feast,  "a  life-feast  over  Lazarus," 
comes  to  an  end.  The  guests  disperse.  The 
crowd  which  had  gathered  to  Bethany  to  see 
Lazarus,  the  risen  from  the  dead,  as  well  as 
Christ,  the  Raiser  of  the  dead,  has  melted  away. 
The  sacred  hours  are  over,  and  Jesus  has  num- 
bered his  last  Jewish  Sabbath.  His  first  re- 
corded Sabbath  was  spent  in  Nazareth,  the 
"city  of  branches,"  the  last  in  Bethany,  the  "city 
of  palms."  His  first  Sabbath  was  marked  by 
the  murderous  attempt  of  his  fellow-townsmen 
to  cast  him  headlonof  from  the  brow  of  the  hill  on 
which  their  city  was  built ;  his  last  was  marked 
by  that  anointing  which  symbolized  that  diffu- 
sive frao^rance  of  his  g^race  which  would  event- 
ually  fill  the  world,  when  the  name,  and  work, 
and  glory,  of  Jesus  should  be  known  and  loved, 
as  the  true  Messiah,  the  anointed  One  of  God. 


CHAPTER    XVI 


OUR  LORD'S  SABBATH  IN  THE  SEPULCHRE. 


"  When  the  even  was  come,  there  came  a  rich  man  of  Arimathea, 
named  Joseph,  who  also  himself  was  Jesus'  disciple  :  he  went  to  Pilate 
and  begged  the  body  of  Jesus.  Then  Pilate  commanded  the  body  to 
be  delivered.  And  when  Joseph  had  taken  the  body,  he  wrapped  it 
in  a  clean  linen  cloth,  and  laid  it  in  his  own  new  tomb,  which  he  had 
hewn  out  in  the  rock :  and  he  rolled  a  great  stone  to  the  door  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  departed.  And  there  was  Mary  Magdalene,  and  the 
other  Mary,  sitting  over  against  the  sepulchre.  Now  the  next  day,  that 
followed  the  day  of  the  preparation,  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees 
came  together  unto  Pilate,  saying,  Sir,  we  remember  that  that  deceiver 
said,  while  he  was  yet  alive.  After  three  days  I  will  rise  again.  Com- 
mand therefore  that  the  sepulchre  be  made  sure  until  the  third  day,  lest 
his  disciples  come  by  night,  and  steal  him  away,  and  say  unto  the 
people,  He  is  risen  from  the  dead  :  so  the  last  error  shall  be  worse  than 
the  first.  Pilate  said  unto  them.  Ye  have  a  watch  :  go  your  way,  make 
it  as  sure  as  ye  can.  So  they  went,  and  made  the  sepulchre  sure,  seal- 
ing the  stone,  and  setting  a  watch."  Matthew  xxvii.  57-66. 

"And  now  when  the  even  was  come,  because  it  was  the  preparation, 
that  is,  the  day  before  the  sabbath,  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  an  honorable 
counselor,  which  also  waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  came,  and  went 
in  boldly  unto  Pilate,  and  craved  the  body  of  Jesus.  And  Pilate  mar- 
veled if  he  were  already  dead :  and  calling  unto  him  the  centurion,  he 
asked  him  whether  he  had  been  any  while  dead.  And  when  he  knew 
it  of  the  centurion,  he  gave  the  body  to  Joseph.  And  he  brought  fine 
linen,  and  took  him  down,  and  wrapped  him  in  the  linen,  and  laid  him 
in  a  sepulchre  which  was  hewn  out  of  a  rock,  and  rolled  a  stone  unto 
the  door  of  the  sepulchre.  And  Mary  Magdalene  and  Mary  the  mother 
of  Joses  beheld  where  he  was  laid."  jNIark  xv.  42-47. 

27  313 


314 


THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 


"And,  behold,  there  was  a  man  named  Joseph,  a  counseloi*;  and  he 
was  a  good  man,  and  a  just:  the  same  had  not  consented  to  the  counsel 
and  deed  of  them  :  he  was  of  Arimathea,  a  city  of  the  Jews;  who  also 
himself  waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  This  man  went  unto  Pilate, 
and  begged  the  body  of  Jesus.  And  he  took  it  down,  and  wrapped  it 
in  linen,  and  laid  it  in  a  sejDulchre  that  was  hewn  in  stone,  wherein 
never  man  before  was  laid.  And  that  day  was  the  preparation,  and  the 
sabbath  drew  on.  And  the  women  also,  which  came  with  him  from 
Galilee,  followed  after,  and  beheld  the  sepulchre,  and  hoyv  his  body 
was  laid.  And  they  returned,  and  prepared  spices  and  ointments ;  and 
rested  the  sabbath  day  according  to  the  commandment."   LuKE  xxiii. 

50-56. 

"  And  after  this  Josej^h  of  Arimathea,  being  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  but 
secretly  for  fear  of  the  Jews,  besought  Pilate  that  he  might  take  away 
the  body  of  Jesus :  and  Pilate  gave  him  leave.  He  came  therefore, 
and  took  the  body  of  Jesus.  And  there  came  also  Nicodemus  (which 
at  the  first  came  to  Jesus  by  night),  and  brought  a  mixture  of  myrrh 
and  aloes,  about  a  hundred  pounds  weight.  Then  took  they  the  body 
of  Jesus,  and  wound  it  in  linen  clothes  with  the  spices,  as  the  manner 
of  the  Jews  is  to  bury.  Now  in  the  place  where  he  was  crucified  there 
was  a  garden  ;  and  in  the  garden  a  new  sepulchre,  wherein  was  never 
man  yet  laid.  There  laid  they  Jesus  therefore  because  of  the  Jews' 
preparation  day;  for  the  sepulchre  was  nigh  at  hand."  John  xix.  38-42. 


E  have  just  been  contemplating  a  Sab- 
bath of  our  Lord's  in  which,  at  a 
supper  given  to  him  at  Bethany,  he 
had  been  anointed  with  "a  pound  of  spikenard, 
very  precious,"  by  the  loving  hands  of  Mary 
the  sister  of  Lazarus.  On  the  next  Sabbath 
day  He  who  was  thus  honored  was  lying  dead 
in  a  rock-hewn  tomb.  The  Raiser  up  of  the 
dead  was  himself  dead.  The  Lord  who  had 
dispensed  life  to  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  to  the 
son  of  the  widow  of  Nain,  to  the  brother  of 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE   SEPULCHRE.  315 

Martha  and  Mary,  was  now  himself  Hfeless, 
bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave-clothes.  We 
need  not  dwell  on  the  crucifixion  scene,  nor  on 
the  taking  down  of  Jesus'  body  from  the  cross, 
nor  on  the  request  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea  to 
Pilate  to  grant  him  the  corpse  that  he  micdit 
bury  it  in  his  own  new  sepulchre,  for  these 
things  belong  to  the  day  of  preparation  rather 
than  to  the  Sabbath. 

Is  it  not  something  more  than  a  coincidence 
that- we  find  a  Mary  and  a  Joseph  both  connected 
with  his  birth  and  his  death,  presiding  as  it  were 
at  the  Manger  and  at  the  Tomb? 

*'It  may  be  noted,"  says  Wordsworth,  "that 
one  Joseph  was  appointed  by  God  to  be  the 
guardian  of  his  body  In  the  virgin  womb,  and 
another  Joseph  was  the  guardian  of  his  body  In 
the  virgin  tomb,  and  each  Joseph  Is  called  a  just 
man  in  holy  Scripture."  The  garden  of  Joseph 
of  Arimathea,  that  "honorable  counselor  who 
also  waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God,"  was  near 
"  the  place  whe"re  he  was  crucified,"  and  "  In  the 
garden  was  a  new  sepulchre  wherein  was  never 
man  yet  laid."  As  the  bodies  of  malefactors 
after  death  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  governor, 
Joseph — one  of  the  great  council  of  the  Sanhe- 


3l6  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

drim,  rich,  good,  just,  and  one  who,  being  '*a 
disciple  of  Jesus,  but  secretly,"  "had  not  con- 
sented to  the  counsel  and  deed  of  the"  Sanhe- 
drim— ''went  in  boldly  unto  Pilate  and  craved 
the  body  of  Jesus."  Whatever  may  have  been 
his  "fear  of  the  Jews"  before  Jesus'  death, 
he  had  none  now.  He  was  willing  to  let  the 
Roman  governor  know  how  he  esteemed  the 
crucified  One,  and  was  ready  to  give  to  the 
sacred  body  the  repose  of  his  own  new  tomb. 
Pilate,  having  first  ascertained  from  the  centu- 
rion that  Jesus  was  dead,  granted  his  request. 
Another  ruler  of  the  Jews,  Nicodemus,  "  which 
at  the  first  came  to  Jesus  by  night,"  also  came 
to  render  such  services  as  were  in  his  power. 
He  came  with  an  ofTerinor  of  a  hundred  weiofht 
of  spices  (myrrh  and  aloes) ;  and  under  the 
direction  of  these  two  honorable  men,  the  body 
was  removed  from  the  cross,  wrapped  in  "a 
clean  fine  linen  cloth  with  the  spices,  as  the 
manner  of  the  Jews  is  to  bury,"  and  then  they 
laid  him  reverently  In  Joseph's  new  tomb 
"  hewn  out  in  the  rock,  and  rolled  a  great 
stone  to  the  door  of  the  sepulchre." 

This  transaction  had  been  carefully  watched 
by  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Mary  the  mother  of 


o 

p 

W 

O 

O 
I— ( 


THE  SABBATH  IN  THE   SEPULCHRE.  317 

Joses,  and  the  women  also  which  came  with  him 
from  Gahlee,  as  they  "  sat  over  against  the  sep- 
ulchre and  beheld  how  the  body  was  laid."  So 
soon  as  Joseph  of  Arimathea  and  Nicodemus 
had  departed,  the  women  also  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  after  preparing  their  spices  and  oint- 
ment for  a  more  thorough  embalming  of  the 
sacred  body,  "  they  rested  the  Sabbath  day  ac- 
cordinor  to  the  commandment."     Nothino-  could 

o  o 

have  been  more  simple  and  unostentatious  than 
the  burial  of  Jesus.  As  his  birth,  in  all  its 
earthly  aspects,  was  one  that  was  surrounded 
with  no  pomp  or  worldly  display,  so  the  burial 
was  the  hurried  carrying  of  him  from  the  cross 
to  the  tomb,  without  parade,  without  funeral 
wailing,  without  any  pageant  of  woe.  He  was 
laid  for  his  first  earthly  sleep  In  a  borrowed 
manger ;  he  was  laid  for  his  last  earthly  sleep 
in  a  borrowed  tomb. 

We  cannot  fail  to  note  the  contrast  between 
the  way  in  which  the  holy  women  who  attended 
Christ's  burial  and  the  way  in  which  the  chief 
priests  and  the  Pharisees  kept  that  Sabbath. 
The  Marys  and  the  other  women  from  Galilee 
rested  according  to  the  commandment.  They 
would  not  even  anoint  the  dead  body  of  their 

27* 


3l8  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Lord  on  that  holy  day.     We  can  imagine  with 
what   almost   hopeless    sorrow    they   spent  its 
sacred    hours — how    in    the    privacy    of  their 
home  they  talked  over  the  mournful  scenes  of 
Calvary,  and  spoke  with  awe  of  the  wondrous 
signs  in   the   sky  and  on  the   earth  which  had 
marked  his  crucifixion.     We  can  imagine  how 
they  recalled  one  and  another  of  his  gracious 
words   and  his  gracious  acts,  until  their  hearts 
glowed  as  they  mused  and  spake.    On  the  other 
hand,  the   chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  notwith- 
standing that  it  was  the  Sabbath,  and  notwith- 
standing that  they  rendered  themselves  ceremo- 
nially unclean  by  so  doing,  ''came  together  unto 
Pilate,  saying.  Sir,  we  remem.ber  that  that  de- 
ceiver said,  while  he  was  yet  alive,  After  three 
days  I  will  rise  again.     Command  therefore  that 
the  sepulchre  be  made  sure  until  the  third  day, 
lest  his  disciples  come  by  night  and  steal  him 
away,  and  so  the  last  error  shall  be  worse  than 
the  first."     Here  was  a  confession  that  he  was 
dead,  as   their   language   and   purpose    prove. 
Here  was    still    seen    their   obduracy,  for  they 
style  him  "  that  deceiver."     Here  also  was  man- 
ifested   a   fear  lest  his    prophecy  might   come 
true,   and  hence    they   would   take   all    human 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE   SEPULCHRE.  319 

means  to  prevent  his  rising  again.  Malignity, 
hate,  craft,  fear,  fill  their  minds,  and  make  them 
desecrate  the  Sabbath  with  unlawful  deeds  and 
words  and  emotions. 

That  Sabbath,  we  are  told,  "was  an  high 
day."  It  occurred  in  the  midst  of  the  Passover 
festival,  and  her+ce  was  celebrated  with  unusual 
solemnities  and  reverence.  It  was  one  of  the 
three  great  festivals  of  the  Jews  at  v/hlch  "  all 
the  males  were  to  appear  before  the  Lord." 
It  was  kept  in  honor  of  the  deliverance  of  the 
children  of  Israel  from  the  destroying  angel ; 
when,  In  consequence  of  the  sprinkling  of  the 
blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  on  the  lintel  and 
doorposts  of  their  houses,  he  passed  over  the 
houses  thus  blood  marked ;  and  vdiile  "  there 
was  not  an  house  In  Egypt  where  there  was 
not  one  dead,"  there  was  not  a  house  In 
Goshen  where  there  were  any  dead.  Jerusalem 
on  this  "  high  day  "  was  full  of  people  who  had 
come  up  to  this  holy  festival.  Many  hundred 
thousand  had  gathered  there  to  commemorate 
their  national  deliverance  and  fulfill  the  com- 
mands of  Jehovah. 

Yet  how  few  were  Interested  in   the   trans- 
actions of  Golgotha,  or  comprehended  the   im- 


320  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

port  of  the  wondrous  scenes  of  that  day — the 
darkened  sun,  the  quaking  earth,  the  rended 
veil  of  the  temple !  They  furnished  subjects 
of  talk  at  the  Sabbath  feast,  In  the  family  cir- 
cle, in  the  groups  at  the  Synagogue,  among 
the  visitors  In  the  courts  of  the  temple,  and 
then  the  festive  hours  rolled  on  as  usual,  and 
the  Sabbath  sun  sunk  to  rest  In  the  waters 
of  the  Mediterranean. 

Durlnor  the  whole  of  this  Sabbath  our  Lord 

o 

lay  In  the  tomb  of  Joseph ;  the  sepulchre  had 
been  visited,  however,  by  soldiers  and  officials  ; 
the  latter,  to  affix  seals  to  the  stone  that  was 
rolled  to  the  door  of  the  tomb,  so  that  it  could 
not  be  opened  without  breaking  them ;  and 
the  former,  to  guard  the  place  from  any  in- 
trusion, and  thus  defeat  the  attempt,  should 
such  be  made,  to  steal  away  his  body  and 
then  say  that  It  was  raised  from  the  dead. 
With  these  exceptions,  we  read  of  no  one 
visiting  the  sepulchre  on  that  Sabbath  day. 
Malignant  hate  pursued  him  to  the  tomb,  and 
planted  sentinels  at  his  grave  to  defeat  his 
predicted  resurrection,  and  keep  the  so-called 
impostor  in  his  rock-hewn  prison. 

Such   was   the    condition   of  things  on   that 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE   SEPULCHRE.  321 

Sabbath  day.  It  was  a  period  of  suspense 
and  awe  in  the  moral  universe.  There  was 
something  subhme  in  the  hush  of  expectation 
that  filled  the  hearts  of  apostles  and  holy 
women  and  ano:els  as  the  hours  of  that  "hiorh 
day"  slowly  rolled  on,  and  the  Roman  guards 
paced  up  and  down  before  the  sealed  and 
silent  sepulchre. 

He  whom  prophecy  had  foretold  should  rise 
from  the  dead ;  he  who  had  predicted  his'  own 
resurrection ;  he  who  had  declared  himself  to 
be  "the  resurrection  and  the  life;"  he  who 
had  proved  that  he  was  such,  by  calling  back 
to  life  the  dead  lying  on  the  bed,  on  the  bier, 
in  the  grave, — was  himself  dead  and  buried. 
He  upon  whose  return  to  life  hung  all  the 
issues  of  man's  salvation  was  lying  in  his  grave- 
clothes  with  his  face  bound  about  with  a  nap- 
kin. Earth  and  hell  and  heaven  bent  as  it 
were  over  his  tomb  in  mute  expectancy,  for 
that  sepulchre  wherein  he  lay  as  death's  great- 
est victim,  and  the  grave's  proudest  trophy,  was 
the  last  stronghold  of  Satan,  and  that  must 
be  conquered  before  his  atoning  work  would 
be  completed. 

There  is   something  very  solemn   in  consid- 


322  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

erlng  Jesus,  not  only  as  dead,  but  buried — as 
lying  for  a  time  under  the  power  of  death,  as 
making  his  grave  in  an  earthly  sepulchre.  Yet 
as  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  die — for  thus 
only  could  he  bear  the  penalty  due  to  our  sins — 
so  also  was  it  necessary  that  he  should  be 
buried.  This  was  requisite,  not  only  as  giv- 
ing additional  proof  of  his  death  by  increasing 
the  number  of  witnesses  to  the  fact — not  only 
to  fulfill  the  types  of  the  Old  Testament  which 
foreshadowed  this  burial,  as  that  of  Isaac,  bound 
for  a  time  to  the  altar  and  then  released  by 
divine  interposition ;  and  Jonah,  entombed  for 
a  season  in  the  whale,  to  be  rendered  back 
to  the  land  on  the  third  day ;  not  only  to  fulfill 
the  prophecies  which  predicted  that  the  Messiah 
should  "  make  his  crrave  with  the  wicked  and 
with  the  rich  in  his  death," — but  it  was  espe- 
cially necessary  that  he  should  go  down  to  the 
grave,  so  that  there,  in  dcatJis  own  dominion,  he 
might  conquer  death  and  the  grave  and  lead 
them  captive  at  his  chariot  wheels.  As  it  was 
only  by  taking  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant, 
and  coming  under  all  the  outward  conditions 
of  humanity,  that  he  was  able  as  a  man  in 
human    form   to   work  out  for   us    redemption 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE   SEPULCHRE.  323 

from  sin,  so  only  by  going  down  to  the  state 
and  condition  of  the  dead,  and  coming  under 
all  the  conditions  of  deceased  humanity,  could 
he  "  destroy  him  who  had  the  power  of  death  " 
and  break  the  bars  of  the  ofrave. 

The  dead  of  the  earth  are  to  rise  from  their 
graves,  and  Christ,  as  the  '*  first  fruit,"  must  be 
in  a  grave  before  he  can  rise,  as  the  "  wave- 
sheaf"  of  the  buried  generations  of  men.  The 
final  conflict  of  Christ  with  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness was  to  be  made  by  the  buried  Christ,  and 
the  tomb  of  Joseph  was  to  be  the  scene  of  the 
struggle.  In  vain  would  have  been  the  holy 
life  and  divine  teachings  of  Jesus,  in  vain  his 
many  miracles  and  wondrous  works,  in  vain  the 
agony  of  Gethsemane,  in  vain  even  the  blood 
of  Calvary,  if,  once  in  the  grave,  death  coitld  hold 
Iiint  there.  If,  voluntarily  coming  under  the 
power  and  dominion  of  death,  he  had  been 
involuntarily  detained  there,  it  would  have 
shown  that  there  was  a  power  there  stronger 
than  he  to  which  he  must  submit.  But  death 
gets  all  its  power  from  sin,  sin  all  its  activity 
from  the  prince  of  evil,  so  that  if  Jesus  had 
been  held  in  the  grave  against  his  will,  it  would 
have  proved  that  he  was  not  divine,   was  not 


324  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

the  Messiah,  and  inferior  in  power  even  to  a 
fallen  angel.  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  not 
only  that  Jesus  should  die  on  the  cross,  but  that 
he  should  enter  into  the  house  of  this  stronof- 
armed  death  and  spoil  him  in  his  own  domain, 
and  bind  him  there  as  his  conquered  foe.  It 
was  the  last  fortress  of  sin,  and  it  must  be 
broken  down  before  there  could  be  the  cry  of 
triumph ;  for  if  Jesus  had  been  held  captive  in 
the  grave,  all  his  followers  would  have  been  held 
there  also,  and  no  Easter  morning,  with  its  shout 
of  gladness,  would  ever  have  risen  upon  that 
dark  valley.  And  how  striking  is  the  thought, 
that  as  in  the  garden  of  Eden  "  the  first  man, 
Adam,"  lost,  by  the  conquest  of  him  by  Satan, 
original  innocence  and  perfect  bliss  and  com- 
munion with  God,  so  also  in  the  garden  of 
Joseph,  "  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord  from 
heaven,"  by  his  conquest  of  Satan,  gained  back 
our  lost  inheritance,  securing  to  us  thereby  an 
innocence  purer  than  Adam's,  a  bliss  more 
heavenly,  and  a  union  with  the  divine  nature 
beyond  anything  that  ever  could  have  been  in 
an  unsinning  and  an  unredeemed  humanity. 
In  the  garden  of  Eden,  Satan  conquered,  and 
''  brouoht    death    into    the    world    and    all    our 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE   SEPULCHRE.  325 

woes."  In  the  garden  of  Joseph,  Jesus  con- 
quered Satan,  and  ''  brought  life  and  immor- 
tality to  Hght." 

The  two  crardens  have  been  the  two  ofreatest 
battle-grounds  of  the  moral  world.  The  fall 
and  the  recovery  of  our  race  date  from  these 
two  points ;  and  had  not  the  garden  of  Joseph 
reversed  the  victory  of  the  garden  of  Eden,  the 
whole  world  would  for  ever  lie  in  the  reo^ion 
and  shadow  of  death ;  the  great  stone  which 
lay  against  the  door  of  the  world's  sepulchre 
would  never  have  been  rolled  away,  and  the 
whole  race,  in  all  its  generations,  as  they  went 
down  to  the  grave,  would  have  lain  there  with 
no  hope  of  a  resurrection  to  eternal  life  and 
eternal  bliss. 

And  this  brings  before  us  another,  and  the 
only  other,  fact  we  shall  now  mention  in  con- 
nection with  the  scenes  of  this  Sabbath  day — 
viz.,  the  comfort  which  it  gives  to  the  Christian 
that  his  dear  Lord  has  himself  lain  in  the  tomb. 
As  we  look  at  the  grave,  in  connection  with  our 
friends  or  in  reference  to  ourselves,  there  is  an 
instinctive  shrinkinof  back  from  its  coldness,  its 
darkness,  its  decay.  It  is  so  desolate  to  put  the 
bodies  of  our  dear  ones  into  the  deep  vault  and 

28 


^26  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

leave  them  there  all  alone — to  go  away  and 
abandon  them,  as  it  were,  to  the  dank  earth  and 
the  crawling  worm.  It  is  painful  to  think  that 
we  ourselves  must  soon  lie  down  in  the  dust 
and  turn  to  corruption ;  that  this  body  will  be 
but  a  handful  of  ashes  ;  that  all  its  "  beauty  will 
be  consumed  out  of  its  dwelling-place."  We 
do  not  wonder,  as  we  look  at  these  things  in  the 
light  of  natural  religion,  that  the  ancients,  and 
all  who  know  not  the  gospel,  should  depict 
death  as  "  the  king  of  terrors  "  and  the  grave 
as  a  devourinof  monster.  But,  blessed  be  God ! 
we  do  not  feel  thus,  now  that  Jesus  has  been 
buried.  By  lying  in  the  tomb  he  has,  as  our 
forerunner,  gone  before  to  show  us  the  way — 
he  has  turned  its  darkness  into  light,  its  despair 
into  hope,  its  gorgon  horrors  into  brightest  joys. 
He  has  shown  us,  by  his  occupancy  of  a  grave, 
that  we  need  not  dread  to  lie  where  he  lay.  Pie 
has  shown  us,  by  his  brief  stay  there,  that  we 
also  are  to  rise  to  newness  of  life ;  and  as  he 
passed  through  the  grave  to  his  final  glory,  so 
will  the  grave  be  to  us  the  gateway  to  our  bliss- 
ful immortality.  The  call  of  Jesus  to  each  one 
of  his  disciples  is,  ''  Follow  thou  me ;"  and  that 
following  zvill  conduct  tcs  to  the  tomb  before  it 


THE   SABBATH  IN   THE   SEPULCHRE.  32/ 

conducts  7CS  to  heaven.  Death  may  be  bitter  to 
the  flesh,  but  it  will  only  usher  the  Christian 
into  ''the  joy  of  his  Lord."  The  grave  may  be 
repulsive  to  the  natural  sensitiveness  of  the 
heart,  but  we  only  enter  there  to  change  our 
dress,  for  there  we  are  to  put  off  this  body  of 
flesh  and  corruption  and  put  on  the  resurrection 
body,  for  Jesus  "shall  change  our  vile  bodies, 
that  they  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  own 
glorious  body,  according  to  the  mighty  working 
whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things  unto 
himself." 

When  such  joy  is  before  us,  who  will  com- 
plain that  he  must  reach  it  by  passing  through 
the  grave  ?  Who  would  refuse  to  enter  the 
palace  of  the  king  because  the  portal  was  low 
and  dark  and  dismal,  and  he  had  to  wait  there  a 
moment  before  he  could  be  conducted  into  the 
throne-room,  bright  with  imperial  glory?  and 
who  will  grieve  that  he  must  pass  through  the 
erave  and  eate  of  death  before  he  can  enter  the 
palace  of  the  great  King  eternal  in  the  heavens  ? 
Our  only  thought  should  be  to  fit  ourselves  for 
the  hour  of  death  by  having  our  life  hid  in 
Christ,  for  we  can  die  in  the  Lord  only  as  we 
live  in  the  Lord;  and  unless  we  die  in  the  Lor'd, 


328  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

there  will  be  for  us  no  rest,  no  hope,  in  the 
grave,  and  no  resurrection  to  eternal  bliss 
beyond.  But  the  soul  that  trusts  its  all  on 
Jesus,  that  rests  satisfied  on  his  finished  work, 
that  pleads  nothing  for  Itself  but  that  Christ 
died  for  its  sins  and  rose  again  for  its  justifica- 
tion,— such  a  soul  cares  not  for  what  may  inter- 
vene between  this  life  and  its  joyful  resurrection, 
but  goes  down  into  the  dark  valley  undaunted, 
and  crosses  fearlessly  the  cold  stream,  singing 
as  it  Gfoes,  "Thanks  be  unto  God  who  Q^Iveth 
us  the  victory  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

With  what  touching  simplicity  does  Bunyan, 
in  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  speak  of  this  when 
he  describes  the  death  of  Mr.  Standfast! 

"When  Mr.  Standfast  had  thus  set  things  in 
order,  and  the  time  being  come  for  him  to  haste 
him  away,  he  also  went  down  to  the  river.  Now, 
there  was  a  great  calm  at  that  time  in  the  river; 
wherefore  Mr.  Standfast,  when  he  was  about 
halfway  in,  stood  a  while  and  talked  with  his 
companions  that  had  waited  upon  him  thither. 
And  he  said.  The  river  has  been  a  terror  to 
many ;  yea,  the  thoughts  of  it  have  also  fright- 
ened me  ;  but  now  methinks  I  stand  easy ;  my 
foot  is  fixed  upon  that  on  which  the  feet  of  the 


THE   SABBATH  IN  THE   SEPULCHRE.  329 

priests  that  bare  the  ark  of  the  covenant  stood 
while  Israel  went  over  Jordan.  The  waters 
indeed  are  to  the  palate  bitter,  and  to  the 
stomach  cold,  yet  the  thoughts  of  what  I  am 
eoinof  to,  and  of  the  conduct  that  waits  for  me 
on  the  other  side,  doth  lie  as  a  glowing  coal  at 
my  heart.  I  see  myself  now  at  the  end  of  my 
journey ;  my  toilsome  days  are  ended.  I  am 
eoinof  to  see  that  head  that  was  crowned  with 
thorns,  and  that  face  that  was  spit  upon,  for  me. 
I  have  formerly  lived  by  hearsay  and  faith,  but 
now  I  go  where  I  shall  live  by  sight,  and  shall 
be  with  Him  in  whose  company  I  delight  myself 
I  have  loved  to  hear  my  Lord  spoken  of;  and 
wherever  I  have  seen  the  print  of  his  shoe  in  the 
earth,  there  I  have  coveted  to  set  my  foot  too. 
His  name  has  been  to  me  as  a  civet-box  ;  yea, 
sweeter  than  all  perfumes.  His  voice  to  me  has 
been  most  sweet,  and  his  countenance  I  have 
more  desired  than  they  that  have  most  desired 
the  light  of  the  sun.  His  words  I  did  use 
to  gather  for  my  food,  and  for  antidotes  against 
my  faintings.  He  has  held  me  and  hath  kept 
me  from  mine  iniquities  ;  yea,  my  steps  hath  he 
strengthened  in  his  way.  Now  while  he  was 
thus  in  discourse,  his  countenance  changed,  his 

28  « 


330  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

strono-  man  bowed  under  him,  and  after  he  had 
said,  Take  me,  for  I  come  unto  thee,  he  ceased 
to  be  seen  of  them. 

"  But  glorious  it  was  to  see  how  the  open 
region  was  filled  with  horses  and  chariots,  with 
trumpeters  and  pipers,  with  buglers  and  players 
upon  stringed  instruments,  to  welcome  the 
pilgrims  as  they  went  up  and  followed  one 
another  in  at  the  beautiful  gate  of  the  city.  .  .  . 
And,  lo  !  as  they  entered  they  were  transfigured, 
and  they  had  raiment  put  on  them  that  shone 
like  gold.  Then  I  heard  in  my  dream  that  all 
the  bells  in  the  city  rang  again  for  joy,  and  that 
it  was  said  unto  them,  Enter  ye  into  the  joy  of 
your  Lord."  ^ 


CHAPTER   XVII. 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY. 


I.— THE  MORNING  HOURS. 


"  In  the  end  of  the  Sabbath,  as  it  began  to  dawn  toward  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  came  Mary  Magdalene  and  the  other  Mary  to  see  the 
sepulchre.  And,  behold,  there  was  a  great  earthquake  :  for  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and  rolled  back  the 
stone  from  the  door,  and  sat  upon  it.  His  countenance  was  like  light- 
ning, and  his  raiment  white  as  snow :  and  for  fear  of  him  the  keepers 
did  shake,  and  became  as  dead  men.  And  the  angel  answered  and 
said  unto  the  women.  Fear  not  ye  :  for  I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus, 
which  was  crucified.  He  is  not  here:  for  he  is  risen,  as  he  said. 
Come,  see  the  place  where  the  Lord  lay.  And  go  quickly,  and  tell  his 
disciples  that  he  is  risen  from  the  dead ;  and,  behold,  he  goeth  before 
you  into  Galilee ;  there  shall  ye  see  him  :  lo,  I  have  told  you.  And 
they  departed  quickly  from  the  sepulchre  with  fear  and  great  joy ;  and 
did  run  to  bring  his  disciples  word.  And  as  they  went  to  tell  his  dis- 
ciples, behold,  Jesus  met  them,  saying.  All  hail.  And  they  came  and 
held  him  by  the  feet,  and  worshiped  him.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them. 
Be  not  afraid :  go  tell  my  brethren  that  they  go  into  Galilee,  and  there 
shall  they  see  me."  St.  Matthew  xxviii.  i-io. 

"  And  when  the  Sabbath  was  past,  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Mary  the 
mother  of  James,  and  Salome,  had  bought  sweet  spices,  that  they  might 
come  and  anoint  him.  And  very  early  in  the  morning,  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  they  came  unto  the  sepulchre  at  the  rising  of  the  sun.  And 
they  said  among  themselves,  who  shall  roll  us  away  the  stone  from  the 
door  of  the  sepulchre  ?  And  when  they  looked,  they  saw  that  the  stone 
was  rolled  away  :  for  it  was  veiy  great.  And  entering  into  the  sep- 
ulchre, they  saw  a  young  m.an  sitting  on  the  right  side,  clothed  in  a 

331 


332  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 

long  white  garment;  and  tliey  were  affrighted.  And  he  said  unto  them, 
Be  not  affrighted :  ye  seek  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  which  was  crucified  :  he 
is  risen;  he  is  not  here  :  behold  the  place  where  they  laid  him.  But  go 
your  way,  tell  his  disciples  and  Peter  that  he  goeth  before  you  into 
Galilee;  there  shall  ye  see  him,  as  he  said  unto  you.  And  they  w^ent 
out  quickly,  and  fled  from  the  sepulchre ;  for  they  trembled  and  were 
amazed  :  neither  said  they  anything  to  any  man  ;  for  they  were  afraid. 
Now  when  Jesus  was  risen  early  the  first  day  of  the  week,  he  appeai'ed 
first  to  Mary  Magdalene,  out  of  whom  he  had  cast  seven  devils.  And 
she  went  and  told  them  that  had  been  with  him,  as  they  moux'ned  and 
wept.  And  they,  when  they  had  heard  that  he  was  alive,  and  had 
been  seen  of  her,  believed  not.  After  that  he  appeared  in  another 
form  unto  two  of  them,  as  they  walked,  and  went  into  the  country.  And 
they  went  and  told  it  unto  the  residue :  neither  believed  they  them. 
Afterward  he  appeared  unto  the  eleven  as  they  sat  at  meat,  and  up- 
braided them  with  their  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart,  because  they 
believed  not  them  which  had  seen  him  after  he  was  risen."  St.  Mark 
xvi.  1-14.  • 

"  The  first  day  of  the  week  cometh  Mary  Magdalene  early,  when  it 
was  yet  dark,  unto  the  sepulchre,  and  seeth  the  stone  taken  away  from 
the  sepulchre.  Then  she  runneth,  and  cometh  to  Simon  Peter,  and  to 
the  other  disciple,  whom  Jesus  loved,  and  saith  unto  them,  They  have 
taken  away  the  Lord  out  of  the  sepulchre,  and  we  know  not  where  they 
have  laid  him.  Peter  therefore  went  forth,  and  that  other  disciple,  and 
came  to  the  sepulchre.  So  they  ran  both  together :  and  the  other  dis- 
ciple did  outrun  Peter,  and  came  first  to  the  sepulchre.  And  he  stoop- 
ing down,  and  looking  in,  saw  the  linen  clothes  lying;  yet  went  he 
not  in.  Then  cometh  Simon  Peter  following  him,  and  went  into  the 
sepulchre,  and  seeth  the  linen  clothes  lie,  and  the  napkin,  that  was 
about  his  head,  not  lying  with  the  linen  clothes,  but  wrapped  together  in 
a  place  by  itself.  Then  went  in  also  that  other  disciple,  which  came 
first  to  the  sepulchre,  and  he  saw  and  believed.  For  as  yet  they  knew 
not  the  scripture,  that  he  must  rise  again  from  the  dead.  Then  the 
disciples  went  away  again  unto  their  own  home.  But  Maiy  stood 
without  at  the  sepulchre  weeping :  and  as  she  wept,  she  stooped  down, 
and  looked  into  the  sepulchre,  and  seeth  two  angels  in  white  sitting, 
the  one  at  the  head,  and  the  other  at  the  feet,  where  the  body  of  Jesus 
had  lain.  And  they  say  unto  her.  Woman,  why  weepest  thou?  She 
saith  unto  them.  Because  they  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know 
not  Avhere  they  have  laid  him.  And  when  she  had  thus  said,  she 
turned  herself  back,  and  saw  Jesus  standing,  and  knew  not  that  it  was 
Jesus.     Jesus  said  unto  her,  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?  whom  seekest 


o 

GO 


a 
o 

+=> 

no 
(0 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  333 

thou?  She  supposing  him  to  be  the  gardener,  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  if 
thou  have  borne  him  hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  and  I 
will  take  him  away.  Jesus  said  unto  her,  Mary.  She  turned  herself, 
and  sailh  unto  him,  Rabboni;  which  is  to  say,  Master.  Jesus  saith 
unto  her,  Touch  me  not ;  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  my  Father ;  but 
go  to  my  brethren,  and  say  unto  them,  I  ascend  unto  my  Father,  and 
your  Father;  and  to  my  God,  and  your  God.  Mary  Magdalene  came 
and  told  the  disciples  that  she  had  seen  the  Lord,  and  that  he  had 
spoken  these  things  unto  her.  Then  the  same  day  at  evening,  being 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  doors  were  shut  where  the  disciples 
were  assembled  for  fear  of  the  Jews,  came  Jesus  and  stood  in  the 
midst,  and  said  unto  them.  Peace  be  unto  you.  And  when  he  had  so 
said,  he  showed  unto  them  his  hands  and  his  side.  Then  were  the 
disciples  glad,  when  they  saw  the  Lord,"  St.  John  xx.  1-20. 

HE  Jewish  Sabbath  is  passed.  The 
holy  women  have  scrupulously  kept 
its  sacred  hours,  patiently  waiting 
until  the  morning  light  of  the  first  day  of  the 
week  would  permit  them  to  go  to  the  sepulchre. 
"Very  early,"  therefore,  *'as  it  began  to  dawn," 
three  women,  Mary  Magdalene  and  Mary  the 
mother  of  James  and  Joses,  and  Salome,  "hav- 
ing bought  sweet  spices,  that  they  might  anoint 
the  body  of  Jesus,"  went  thither  to  do  that  work 
of  grateful  yet  sorrowing  love.  As  they  walked 
on,  they  said  among  themselves,  "Who  shall 
roll  us  away  the  stone  from  the  door  of  the 
sepulchre  ?"  They  had  seen  this  "  very  great  " 
stone  rolled  on  Friday  to  the  door  of  the 
tomb,  and  they  knew,  therefore,  that  their 
united    strencrth  would    not   suffice    to  remove 


334  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

it.  They  knew  not,  however,  that  the  stone 
had  been  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
nor  that  the  tomb  was  guarded  by  a  band  of 
Roman  soldiers.  Had  they  known  these  things, 
they  would  not  have  ventured  into  the  garden 
of  Joseph.  When  they  reached  the  spot,  how- 
ever, they  found  the  stone  rolled  away;  "for 
an  aneel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven, 
and  came  and  rolled  back  the  stone  from  the 
door  and  sat  upon  it.  His  countenance  was 
like  liofhtninof,  and  his  raiment  white  as  snow. 
And  for  fear  of  him  the  keepers  did  shake, 
and  became  .as  dead  men."  The  stone  being 
thus  taken  away,  they  were  at  once  enabled 
to  enter  into  the  sepulchre,  but  when  there, 
"  they  found  not  the  body  of  Jesus."  They 
saw,  however,  two  angels  in  shining  raiment, 
''sitting,  the  one  at  the  head,  and  the  other  at 
the  foot,  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain," 
who  told  them,  "  Be  not  affrighted :  ye  seek 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  which  was  crucified :  he  is 
risen ;  he  is  not  here :  behold  the  place  where 
they  laid  him.  Go  quickly,  and  tell  his  dis- 
ciples that  he  is  risen  from  the  dead ;  and, 
behold,  he  goeth  before  you  into  Galilee ;  there 
shall  ye  see  him."    Hurrying  back  to  the  eleven 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  '       335 

apostles,  the  women  told  them  what  they  had 
seen  and  heard,  and  Peter  and  John  ran  to  the 
sepulchre.  John  reached  It  first,  and  "  stoop- 
ing down  and  looking  in,  saw  the  linen  clothes 
lying ;  yet  went  he  not  in.  Then  cometh  Simon 
Peter  following  him,  and  went  into  the  sep- 
ulchre, and  seeth  the  linen  clothes  lie,  and 
the  napkin,  that  was  about  his  head,  not  lying 
with  the  linen  clothes,  but  wrapped  together 
in  a  place  by  itself."  After  this  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  what  the  women  had  told  them,  "  the 
disciples  went  away  again  to  their  own  house," 
wondering  at  that  which  was  come  to  pass. 

Mary  Magdalene,  who  had  gone  back  to  the 
sepulchre,  did  not  now  return  with  them,  but 
remained.  Her  mind  was  perturbed  with  grief, 
and  she  did  not  take  in  the  full  meaning  of  the 
transaction.  She  only  seemed  to  realize  that 
the  body  of  Jesus  was  gone,  and  so  she  lingered 
there,  weeping  and  stooping  to  look  into  the 
vacant  sepulchre.  The  angels  there  gently 
asked,  "  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?"  She 
saith  unto  them.  Because  "  they  have  taken 
away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they 
have  laid  him."  Turning  back  from  the  tomb, 
she  saw  a  person  whom  she  took  to  be  Joseph's 


33^  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

gardener ;  and  when  this  supposed  gardener 
asked  her  the  same  question  that  the  angels 
had  done,  ''Woman,  why  weepest  thou?"  she 
answered,  "  Sir,  If  thou  hast  borne  him  hence, 
tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  and  I  will  take 
him  away."  Jesus  said  unto  her — for  he  It  was 
to  whom  she  was  speaking — "  Mary  !"  That 
one  word,  uttered  In  his  well-known  tone,  dis- 
closed to  her  who  It  was,  and  she  at  once — 
exclaiming  "  RabbonI !"  /.  e.,  my  Teacher — 
sought  to  embrace  him,  by  casting  herself  at 
his  feet;  but  he  said  unto  her,  ''Touch  me  not," 
cling  not  to  me,  "  for  I  have  not  yet  ascended 
to  my  Father,  but  go  to  my  brethren  and  say 
unto  them,  I  ascend  unto  my  Father  and  your 
Father,  and  to  my  God  and  your  God."  She 
then  went  back  to  Jerusalem  "and  told  the  dis- 
ciples that  she  had  seen  the  Lord,  and  that  he 
had  spoken  these  things  unto  her." 

As  soon  as  the  Roman  guard  at  the  sepulchre 
had  recovered  from  their  fright,  which  for  a  time 
almost  palsied  body  and  mind,  they  "  went  into 
the  city  and  showed  unto  the  chief  priests  all 
the  things  that  were  done."  A  council  was  Im- 
mediately  called,  the  facts  stated,  and  the  neces- 
sity  of   checking  their  being   known    at   once 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  33/ 

became  apparent.  They  could  not  meet  this  new 
and  strange  emergency,  and  so  they  resorted  to 
bribery  and  falsehood,  and  *'gave  large  money 
to  the  soldiers,  saying,  Say  ye,  His  disciples  came 
by  night  and  stole  him  away  while  we  slept ;  and 
if  this  come  to  the  governor's  ears  we  will  per- 
suade him  and  secure  you.  So  they  took  the 
money  and  did  as  they  were  taught." 

This  is  a  simple  record  of  the  events  of  the 
early  morning  of  this  first  Lord's  day.  How 
many  subjects  of  deepest  interest  do  they 
set  before  us !  Only  a  few,  however,  can  be 
noticed.  Never  did  men  more  thoroughly  over- 
reach themselves  than  did  the  chief  priests  and 
Pharisees,  when  they  asked  Pilate  to  give  them 
a  watch  at  the  sepulchre  to  prevent  "  that  de- 
ceiver," as  they  called  him,  from  rising  from  the 
dead.  For  the  very  means  by  which  they  hoped 
to  prevent  the  resurrection  were  made  the  occa- 
sion of  more  firmly  establishing  it,  and  we 
should  have  lost  some  of  the  most  striking  and 
irrefragable  proofs  of  this  miracle,  had  not  this 
request  been  made  by  the  Jews  and  been 
granted  by  Pilate.  But  for  this  Roman  guard, 
and  the  sealed  stone,  and  the  bribery  of  the 
soldiers  by  the  council  to  propagate  a  lie,  the 

29  w 


33^  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

testimony  to  the  resurrection  would  have  been 
wholly  from  the  friends  of  Jesus,  and  liable  of 
course  to  the  charge  of  partisan  complicity  and 
design.  But  now,  Roman  soldiers  and  Jewish 
enemies  are  made  to  bear  unwilling  witness  to 
this  event. 

The  guard  mounted  at  the  sepulchre  was 
probably  the  usual  detachment  of  sixteen  sol- 
diers, detailed  from  the  castle  of  Antonio  for 
this  special  purpose.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
military  discipline  of  the  Romans  was  severe 
and  exacting.  To  desert  a  post,  or  sleep  upon 
a  watch,  was  punished  with  death.  This,  these 
soldiers  well  knew,  and  such  was  the  anxiety  of 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees  in  this  matter  that 
they  had  doubtless  received  instructions  to  be 
specially  vigilant  at  so  important  a  crisis.  How 
impossible,  then,  to  regard  as  true  the  assertion 
of  the  chief  priests  that  his  disciples  came  by 
night  and  stole  him  away  while  the  guard  slept ! 
for  while  the  body  was  gone  on  the  morning  of 
that  first  day  of  the  week,  yet  the  linen  clothes 
and  the  spices  which  had  been  wound  around  him 
were  still  there,  and  the  napkin  that  was  about 
his  head  was  folded  together  or  carefully  ar- 
ranged in  a  place  by  itself.     Had  the  body  been 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  339 

Stolen,  the  thieves  would,  In  their  haste,  have 
taken  the  body  just  as  they  found  It,  and  se- 
creted it  just  as  It  was ;  they  would  scarcely 
have  had  leisure  to  carefully  unwrap  It  of  its 
bandages,  the  myrrh  and  aloes  In  which  would 
make  them  stick  so  closely  to  the  flesh  that 
only  with  great  care  and  washing  could  they  be 
removed ;  nor  would  they  have  deliberately 
folded  up  the  napkin  that  bound  his  head  and 
laid  it  in  a  place  by  Itself  The  Interior  of  the 
sepulchre  showed  no  signs  of  haste  or  theft ;  on 
the  contrary,  there  were  marks  of  deliberation 
and  thoughtful  care,  and  proved  that  the  dis- 
ciples did  not  come  by  night  and  steal  him 
away. 

As  to  the  other  assertion,  that  Jesus  was 
taken  ivJiile  the  soldier's  slept,  the  thing  is  so  pre- 
posterous as  scarcely  to  deserve  an  answer. 
The  answer  to  the  statement  is,  if  they  all 
slept  (a  thing  impossible  in  itself,  considering 
the  severe  discipline  of  the  Roman  soldier  and 
the  extreme  vigilance  required  for  this  service), 
how  could  they  know  that  his  disciples  came 
and  stole  him  away  ?  Can  a  man  testify  as  to 
what  took  place  when  he  was  asleep  ?  Go  to 
any  court  of  justice,  and  offer  there  the  testi- 


340  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

•mony  of  sleeping  men  for  what  took  place  when 
they  were  confessedly  asleep,  w^ould  their  state- 
ments be  received?  There  is  not  a  court  on 
earth  that  would  accept  or  believe  such  wit- 
nesses. Yet  confessedly,  the  body  of  Jesus  is 
gone,  and  this  is  their  only  explanation  of  the 
removal.  Now,  either  the  soldiers  were"  asleep 
or  they  v/ere  not  asleep.  If  they  were  asleep, 
as  they  were  taught  to  say,  then  their  testimony 
is  worthless,  because  they  could  not  know  what 
transpired  in  their  slumber.  If  they  were  not 
asleep,  then  a  few  timid  disciples,  who  had  all 
forsaken  Jesus  and  fled  two  days  before,  could 
not  have  ventured  to  assail  a  band  of  well- 
armed  soldiers,  placed  for  the  very  purpose  of 
guarding  the  tomb  of  Jesus  from  spoliation,  and 
could  not  have  stolen  the  body  from  their  spe- 
cial guardianship.  Thus  did  God  cause  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  the  plottings 
of  the  enemies  of  Christ  to  become  some  of  the 
strongest  props  to  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection. 

That  the  great  council  of  the  Jews,  the  San- 
hedrim, knew  that  the  disciples  not  only  did  not 
come  by  night  and  steal  him  away,  as  they 
bribed  the  soldiers  to  say,  but  that  they  in  their 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  34I 

hearts  believed  that  Christ  had  come  to  life . 
again,  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  in  less  than 
two  months  after  the  resurrection  Peter  and 
John  were  arrested  in  the  temple  for  preaching 
'*  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,"  and  after  a  night's 
imprisonment  were  arraigned  before  the  high 
priests  and  the  council  as  to  the  power  and 
name  by  which  they  had  wrought  the  miracle 
of  healing  on  the  lame  man  at  the  Beautiful 
Gate  of  the  temple.  They  replied :  "  Be  it 
known  unto  you  all,  and  to  all  the  people  of 
Israel,  that  by  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Naz- 
areth, whom  ye  crucified,  whom  God  raised  from 
the  dead,  even  by  him  does  this  man  stand  here 
before  you  whole."  A  few  days  after,  Peter  and 
the  other  apostles  were  again  arrested  by  the 
authority  of  the  Sanhedrim  and  put  in  the  com- 
mon prison.  When  brought  before  the  council, 
the  high  priest  asked  them,  "  Did  we  not 
straightly  command  you  that  ye  should  not 
teach  in  this  name  ?  and  behold  ye  have  filled 
Jerusalem  with  your  doctrine  and  intend  to 
bring  this  man's  blood  upon  us."  To  which 
the  apostles  replied:  "The  God  of  our  fathers 
raised  up  Jesus  whom  ye  slew  and  hanged  on  a 
tree.    Him  hath  God  exalted  to  be  a  Prince  and 

29* 


342  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

a  Saviour,  and  we  are  his  witnesses  of  these 
thino-s." 

o 

Now,  on  the  theory  that  his  disciples  had 
stolen  the  body,  would  they  have  thus  spoken 
to  the  council  ?  or,  speaking  thus,  would  not  the 
council  at  once  charge  it  upon  them  now  that 
they  had  them  in  their  grasp,  and  prove  them 
guilty  of  the  theft?  But  not  a  word  do  we 
hear  from  any  of  the  Sanhedrim  of  any  such 
thing.  They  commanded  them  to  be  silent, 
they  beat  them,  and  were  so  cut  to  the  heart 
by  what  they  heard  that  they  took  counsel  to 
slay  them,  but  not  a  word  is  lisped  about 
their  stealing  the  body,  though  the  apostles 
on  each  occasion  challenged  them  to  the  issue, 
by  declaring  that  God  had  raised  up  Jesus 
from  the  dead,  and  that  they  were  witnesses 
of  the  fact.  Had  the  council  believed  their 
own  story,  now  was  the  time  to  verify  it  and 
prove  the  apostles  false.  But  no ;  they  knew 
that  their  own  statement  was  false,  and  never 
even  attempted  to  deny  or  refute  the  declara- 
tion of  the  apostles. 

Then,  again,  behold  the  wonder-working 
power  of  God  in  the  circumstances  connected 
with  the   rolling  away  of   the    stone   from  the 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  343 

door  of  the  sepulchre !  Had  our  Lord  rolled 
away  the  stone,  it  might  have  been  said  that  he 
was  not  dead,  but  had  only  swooned  away,  and 
was  in  a  state  of  asphyxia  or  trance,  and  that, 
reviving  under  the  stimulus  of  the  spices  where- 
with he  was  swathed,  he  had  by  the  exercise  of 
desperate  strength  removed  the  "  very  great 
stone"  which  guarded  the  mouth  of  his  tomb. 

But  by  the  earthquake,  which  evidently  was 
Ioca.1,  and  by  the  descending  angel  with  "  his 
countenance  like  lio^htninor"  and  his  snow-white 
raiment,  there  were  proofs  conclusive  of  super- 
natural Interference.  Had  there  not  been  these 
prodigies  and  angelic  interpositions,  we  should 
have  been  tempted  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the 
resurrection,  as  making  it  exceptional  to  all  the 
other  great  feats  of  Jesus'  life.  If  when  he  was 
conceived  by  a  virgin,  it  was  announced  by  an 
angel ;  if  when  he  was  born,  a  multitude  of  the 
heavenly  host  sung  his  advent  hymn  over  the 
plains  of  Bethlehem  and  a  new  star  shone  in 
the  east ;  if  when  he  was  baptized,  the  heavens 
opened  and  the  Spirit  like  a  dove  lighted  upon 
him  ;  if  after  his  temptation  in  the  wilderness, 
ano^els  ministered  unto  him ;  if  at  his  transfior- 
u ration,  his  very  garments  and  body  shone  with 


344  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

resplendent  lustre  and  a  voice  from  heaven  said 
"  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear  ye  him  ;"  if  in 
his  agony  in  Gethsemane,  an  angel  appeared 
strengthening  him  ;  if  at  his  death  on  the  cross, 
the  sun  was  darkened  and  the  earth  quaked 
and  the  rocks  were  rent, — surely  it  was  but  in 
harmony  with  all  these  miraculous  interposi- 
tions, that  his  resurrection  should  be  signalized 
by  angelic  visits,  and  be  accompanied  by  por- 
tentous signs.  Had  there  been  none,  the  grand 
climax  of  Christ's  work  would  have  wanted 
those  authenticating  seals,  which  marked  the 
other  epochs  of  his  life  as  marvelous  and 
divine. 

There  is  something  suggestive,  also,  in  the 
incident  that  the  manifestations  of  the  risen 
Saviour  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  day 
'were  to  women  only.  It  was  by  a  woman's 
disobedience,  that  sin  was  introduced  into  Para- 
dise ;  it  was  to  a  woman,  that  the  first  prophecy 
was  given — that  on  which  the  hopes  of  the  world 
hung  for  thousands  of  years,  "The  Seed  of  the 
woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head ;"  it  was 
to  a  woman,  that  the  announcement  of  the  con- 
ception of  the  Messiah  was  first  made ;  it  was 
to  a  woman,  that  Jesus  declared  the  gracious 


THE   FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  345 

truth,  **  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life;" 
and  now  to  Mary  Magdalene  and  two  others 
the  risen  Christ  first  presents  himself  on  the 
morning  of  this  first  Lord's  day.  He  thus  ever 
recognized  the  moral  and  social  power  of  woman. 
He  placed  her  in  her  true  position  as  a  wife,  a 
mother,  a  daughter,  a  friend.  No  one  has  done 
so  much  to  elevate  and  refine  woman  as  Jesus 
Christ  has.  His  teachings  and  his  Spirit  have 
lifted  her  up  from  the  degradation  into  which 
sin  and  man,  and  even  the  so-called  religions  of 
the  world,  had  depressed  her,  Christianity  has 
reinvested  her  with  her  original  dignity  as  she 
came  forth  from  the  hand  of  God  in  Eden — to 
be  man's  companion  in  body,  mind  and  soul. 
Not  to  be  the  slave  of  his  power,  the  creature 
of  his  lust,  but  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord  in  all 
the  high  and  holy  service  of  a  loving  heart,  and 
the  intelligent  companion  of  man  in  all  the  do- 
mestic and  social  arrangements  of  the  family 
organization.  The  homage  paid  to  woman  in 
civilized  nations,  the  contrasts  which  mark  her 
position  in  the  scale  of  heathen  and  Christian 
people,  the  protection  which  human  law  and 
sound  education  and  a  healthful  public  opinion 
throw  around  her,  are  all  due  to  the  religion  of 


34^  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

Jesus  Christ  and  his  own  line  of  action  and 
thought  in  reference  to  that  lonor-humbled  sex. 
This  work  of  Christ  in  behalf  of  woman  has 
been  recognized  by  her  in  all  the  ways  and 
offices  by  which  holy  love  could  express  Itself 
for  a  holy  Saviour.  The  history  of  Christianity 
shows  how  Its  largest  fields  of  triumph  have 
been  amonor  women — how  some  of  the  crrandest 
heroines  of  earth  and  some  of  the  noblest  in  the 
army  of  martyrs  have  been  women.  When  men 
have  doubted,  w^omen  have  believed;  when  men 
have  fled  from  Jesus,  women  have  fled  to  him  ; 
when  men  have  sold  him  for  money,  women 
have  washed  his  feet  with  tears.  She  has  truly 
won  for  herself  the  tribute  of  the  poet: 

"  Not  she  with  traitorous  kiss  her  Saviour  stung, 
Not  she  denied  him  with  unholy  tongue  : 
Slie,  when  apostles  shrank,  could  dangers  brave, 
Last  at  the  cross  and  earliest  at  the  grave." 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY. 


II.— EVENING. 

HE  appearances  of  our  Lord  after  his 
resurrection  thus  far  related,  took 
place  early  in  the  morning  of  the 
first  day  of  the  week.  Several  hours  passed 
before  he  next  presented  himself.  In  the  mean 
time  the  word  had  passed  from  one  disciple  to 
another,  "The  Lord  is  risen."  "The  angels 
have  told  us  so."  "The  women  have  seen  and 
worshiped  him."  As  the  news  spread,  the 
hearts  of  the  apostles  were  stirred  with  unu- 
sual emotion.  The  believing  few  who  still  clung 
to  Jesus,  despite  his  crucifixion,  were  reassured 
in  faith  and  hope.  The  despondency  and  almost 
despair  which  brooded  over  the  followers  of  our 
Lord  on  Friday  evening,  as  they  learned  that 
he  was  indeed  dead  and  buried,  gave  way  to  the 
exciting  expectation  of  soon  seeing  him  again 

347 


348  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

alive.  The  rebound  of  their  minds  from  gloom 
and  sadness  to  the  assurance  that  he  had  risen 
from  the  dead  was  great,  and  produced  intense 
surprise  and  joy. 

How  they  must  have  eagerly  talked  together, 
questioning'  one  with  another  how  it  had  hap- 
pened !  How  they  must  have  thronged  around 
the  women  as  they  returned  from  the  sepulchre 
to-  learn  the  truth  of  vvhat  they  had  seen  and 
heard  !  How  the  unbelieving  Jews  would  shake 
their  heads  and  deny  the  facts,  and  perhaps  de- 
ride their  words  !  When  the  soldiers  returned 
and  told  to  the  council  what  they  knew  about 
the  earthquake,  the  angels,  the  rolled  away 
stone,  the  empty  tomb,  the  chief  priests  and 
scribes  hastily  summoned  the  council,  brought 
before  them  the  still  trembling  and  excited 
soldiers,  saw  at  a  glance  that  their  well-laid 
plans  had  been  all  thwarted,  and  that  they  must 
resort  to  prompt  measures  to  prevent  the  sol- 
diers from  tellinor  the  truth  as  to  the  scenes 
which  had  transpired  at  the  tomb.  Their  con- 
sternation and  raere  at  their  baffled  schemes, 
and  their  hopeless  attempts  to  destroy  Jesus, 
formed  a  marked  contrast  to  the  exulting  glad- 
ness, and  the  palpitating  hopes,  and  the  exciting 


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rilE   FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  349 

suspense  of  his  friends,  as  they  waited  and 
watched  for  new  developments  in  the  wondrous 
scenes  then  unfoldinof  before  them.  Between 
the  true  narrative  of  the  friends  of  Jesus,  and 
the  false  stories  of  his  enemies,  the  fact,  that 
Jesus'  body  was  not  in  the  tomb,  was  soon 
noised  abroad,  and  all  Jerusalem  listened  with 
mingled  incredulity  and  belief.  The  angel 
whom  the  women  had  seen  at  the  sepulchre 
had  specially  charged  them,  "  Go  your  way;  tell 
his  disciples  and  Peter  that  he  goeth  before  you 
into  Galilee :  there  shall  ye  see  him."  It  was  a 
touching  act  of  divine  favor  that  Peter,  who 
had  thrice  denied  our  Lord,  and  that  too  with 
oaths  and  cursino^,  should  have  been  singled  out 
by  name  as  one  to  whom  the  fact  of  Christ's 
resurrection  should  be  immediately  communi- 
cated. Our  Lord,  who  knew  that  he  had  wept 
bitter  tears  of  repentance,  was  thus  tenderly 
anxious  to  assure  him  of  forgiveness,  and  not 
let  him  give  way,  as  he  might  otherwise  have 
done,  to  despair.  Accordingly,  we  find  that  the 
next  appearance  of  Jesus,  and  the  first  to  any 
of  the  apostles,  was  to  Simon  Peter,  as  is  dis- 
tinctly stated  by  St.  Luke,  who  says  that  he 
"  appeared  unto  Simon,"  and  by  St.  Paul  in  his 

30 


350  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

discourse  on  the  resurrection,  who  says,  "  He 
was  seen  of  Cephas  (the  Syrlac  form  of  Peter), 
then  of  the  twelve"  (i  Cor.  xv.  5),  implying  that 
before  Christ  appeared  to  the  apostles  in  a 
body,  called  here  collectively  by  the  term  "  the 
twelve,"  he  did  show  himself  to  Simon  Peter. 
This  accords  with  the  special  message  of  the 
angel  to  Peter,  and  with  our  blessed  Lord's 
conduct  to  him  by  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  How 
this  tender  treatment  of  this  grievously  sinning 
apostle,  and  his  gracious  words  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, another  grievous  sinner,  proved  Jesus  to 
be  "  the  friend  of  sinners  " — "  that  he  came  " 
"  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost "  !  and 
what  assurance  is  thus  given  to  the  vilest  and 
the  most  degraded,  that  he  Is  ready  to  receive 
into  his  favor  even  the  very  "  chief  of  sinners  "  ! 
This  showing  of  himself  to  Peter,  which  is 
supposed  to  have  taken  place  in  the  afternoon, 
was  followed  by  his  appearing  *'in  another 
form  unto  two"  of  the  disciples  ''as  they 
walked  and  went  into  the  country."  The 
words,  "  another  form,"  Imply  that  he  seemed 
to  them  not  In  the  familiar  aspect  under  which 
they  usually  knew  him,  but  as  a  stranger. 
These  two    disciples  were    on  their   way  to  a 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  35  I 

village  called  Emmaus,  seven  or  eight  miles 
distant  from  Jerusalem,  and  they  talked  to- 
gether of  all  these  things  which  had  happened. 
While  thus  communing,  Jesus  drew  near,  "but 
their  eyes  were  holden,  that  they  should  not 
know  him" — i.  e.,  the  appearance  of  Jesus  "in 
another  form,"  as  St.  Mark  records,  put,  as  it 
were,  a  constraint  on  their  eyes,  so  that  they 
did  not  recognize  him,  and  regarded  him  only 
as  a  stranger  who  had  come  up  to  Jerusalem 
to  the  Passover  festival.  Perceivinor  their  sad- 
ness  he  said  to  them,  "What  manner  of 
communications  are  these  that  ye  have  one  to 
another  as  ye  walk  and  are  sad  ?"  They  re- 
plied, "Art  thou  only  a  stranger  at  Jerusalem, 
and  hast  not  known  the  thinofs  which  are  come 
to  pass  there  in  these  days  ?"  thus  showing  that 
all  Jerusalem  was  filled  with  the  exciting  topics, 
and  they  wondered  that,  even  though  but  a 
stranger  there,  he  had  not  heard  of  the  won- 
drous events  of  the  past  three  days.  Asking 
them,  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  out  their 
hearts  still  more  upon  the  subject,  "What 
things  ?"  they  told  him  the  current  story  of  the 
crucifixion  and  the  resurrection.  They  spoke 
to  him  of  their  hopes  and  their  fears — what  the 


352  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

women  at  the  sepulchre  saw  and  said,  and 
what  some  of  their  own  number  witnessed 
there.  Then  he  said  unto  them,  *'  O  fools  and 
slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets 
have  spoken!" — ''fools"  not  in  the  offensive 
sense  of  the  English  word  "  fool,"  but  as  if  he 
had  said,  ''  O  men  lacking  spiritual  understand- 
ing  and  discernment,  and  slow  to  receive  into 
your  mind  the  deep  truths  uttered  by  the  pro- 
phets !"  Then  he  adds — "  Ought  not  Christ  to 
have  suffered  these  thlno^s  and  to  enter  into  his 
glory?"  Was  it  not  in  accordance  with  the  very 
teachings  of  the  prophets,  that  Messiah  should 
thus  suffer  before  his  exaltation  to  glory? — and 
then,  "  beginning  at  Moses  and  all  the  prophets, 
he  expounded  unto  them  in  all  the  scriptures 
the  things  concerning  himself"  Instinctively 
there  bursts  from  our  lips  the  exclamation,  ''  Oh 
that  we  had  been  there,  to  hear  'the  Messiah' 
explain  the  Messianic  prophecies !  and  the  pro- 
phet 'greater  than  Moses'  expound  Moses! 
and  the  one  to  whom  '  all  Scripture  '•  testified, 
open  to  them  their  whole  meaning  concerning 
himself!" 

What  a  teacher !    What  teaching  !    71ie  risen 
Jesus  explaining  the  necessity  of  his  own  death 


THE   FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  353 

and  resurrection !  No  wonder  that  they  said 
afterward,  "  Did  not  our  heart  burn  within  us 
while  he  talked  with  us  by  the  way,  and  while 
he  opened  to  us  the  scriptures?"  It  was  a 
rare  and  gracious  privilege,  and  their  glowing 
hearts,  heated  with  Intense  affection,  warmed 
up  their  whole  souls  with  wonder  and  joy. 

Emmaus  was  soon  reached — too  soon  for 
the  ravished  travelers,  who  sought  to  prolong 
the  pleasing  talk ;  and  hence,  when  the  stranger 
''  made  as  though  he  would  go  farther,"  they 
constrained  him,  saying,  ''Abide  with  us;  for  it 
is  toward  evening,  and  the  day  is  far  spent." 
Having  sufficiently  tested  their  earnestness  to 
enjoy  still  further  communion  with  him,  he 
yielded  to  their  request,  and  sat  down  with 
them  to  their  evening  meal.  -  It  is  a  rule  of 
the  Jews  that  where  three  eat  together  a 
thanksgiving  shall  be  pronounced  by  one.  To 
Jesus,  as  the  honored  guest,  was  accorded  this 
service,  and  In  the  performance  of  it  "he  took 
bread  and  blessed  it,  and  brake  and  gave  to 
them."  Whether  In  the  act  of  prayer,  or  in 
the  manner  of  blessing  the  bread,  or  in  the 
lifting  up  of  his  hands,  whereby  the  prints  of 
the  nails  were  seen  in  their  palms,  or  by  some 

30*  X 


354  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

marked  word  or  tone  of  voice,  he  made  him- 
self known,  we  cannot  tell.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  "he  was  made  known  to  them  in  the 
breakinor  of  the  bread."  For  then  their  eves, 
which  had  been  "  holden "  before,  were  now 
"  opened " — they  recognized  Jesus,  but,  alas  ! 
he  was  gone  ;  "  he  vanished  out  of  their  sight." 
Astounded  by  the  whole  scene,  which  had  pass- 
ed away  like  a  glorious  vision,  the  disciples, 
recalling  the  glow  in  their  hearts  at  Jesus'  dis- 
course by  the  way,  rise  up  "the  same  hour" 
and  retrace  their  steps  to  Jerusalem.  There 
was  no  abiding  in  Emmaus  that  night.  What 
they  had  heard,  what  they  had  seen,  must  be 
told  to  the  other  disciples.  There  was  no  mis- 
take now.  The  eyes  of  their  bodies  and  the 
eyes  of  their  minds  were  now  fully  open. 
They  saw  the  Scripture  in  the  light  in  which 
Jesus  saw  it;  they  had  seen  him  also,  and  had 
walked  with  him,  and  sat  with  him  and  talked 
with  him,  and  there  was  doubt  no  longer.  The 
threescore  furlongs  that  lay  between  Emmaus 
and  Jerusalem  were  soon  passed  over — not,  as 
an  hour  or  two  ao^o,  in  sadness  and  almost 
hopelessness,  but  with  the  quick  step  of  earn- 


THE   FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  355 

est,  glad-hearted  men   anxious  to  carry  happy 
news  to  heavy  hearts. 

It  was  night  when  they  got  back.  They 
found  the  apostles  and  disciples  assembled  to- 
gether, but  with  closed  doors,  "for  fear  of 
the  Jews."  Knocking  and  telling  who  they 
were,  they  were  soon  admitted ;  but  Instead  of 
seeing  sorrow  on  the  faces  of  the  assembly, 
as  they  expected  to  do,  the  two  disciples  were 
greeted  with  the  jubilant  exclamation,  "The 
Lord  has  risen  Indeed,  and  hath  appeared  unto 
Simon !"  It  was  joy  meeting  joy,  hope  clasp- 
ing hope ;  and  as  they  told  their  own  simple 
story  of  the  walk  to  Emmaus,  and  how  Jesus 
was  known  of  them  in  the  breaking  of  bread, 
we  can  imagine  that  the  two  currents  of  holy 
joy,  meeting  and  commingling,  would  swell 
high  the  tide  of  holy  gladness  and  make  the 
room  vocal  with  their  ecstatic  praise. 

While  thus  engaged,  "Jesus  himself  stood  in 
the  midst  of  them,  and  said.  Peace  be  unto  you !" 
The  closed  doors  could  not  keep  out  the  resur- 
rection body  of  the  divine  Jesus,  and  so,  unan- 
nounced, he  stood  suddenly  before  them  with 
the  blessing  of  peace  upon  his  lips.  Prepared 
as  they  in  some  measure  were  for  this  appari- 


35^  '  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

tion  by  knowing  that  he  was  alive,  they  were 
yet  unprepared  for  the  manner  of  his  entrance, 
and  perhaps  for  his  peculiar  appearance. 
Hence  they  "were  terrified  and  affrighted,  and 
supposed  that  they  had  seen  a  spirit."  He 
gently  quieted  their  fears,  and  sought  to  re- 
assure them  by  telling  them  not  only,  '"It  is  I 
myself,"  but  added,  "  Handle  me  and  see,  for  a 
spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me 
have."  He  then  showed  them  his  hands,  his 
feet,  his  side,  bearing  the  marks  of  the  nails  and 
the  spear,  as  if  to  say.  The  same  body  that  was 
nailed  to  the  cross  and  pierced  by  the  soldier  is 
here  before  you.  In  describing  the  effect  of 
tliis  exhibition  of  himself  to  his  disciples,  St. 
Luke  uses  an  expression  which  brings  out  with 
much  emphasis  the  tumultuous  emotions  which 
then  filled  the  hearts  of  his  followers.  His 
words  are,  "While  they  yet  believed  not  for 
joy" — words  which  somewhat  find  their  parallel 
in  the  homely  phrase,  "  It  is  too  good  to  be 
true,"  spoken  of  something  earnestly  desired, 
but  yet  hardly  expected.  The  fact  that  our 
Lord  had  risen,  and  that  he  stood  before  them, 
was  overpowering  to  all  their  emotional  feel- 
ings ;    they  could    scarcely  credit  their  senses. 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY,  35/ 

The  reaction  of  their  minds  from  the  ahiiost 
despair  in  which  they  were  in  a  few  hours  be- 
fore nearly  unbalanced  their  minds,  and  hence 
the  shadows  of  incredulity  still  lingered,  while 
yet  a  full  belief  had  not  gained  the  ascendant. 
It  was  just  this  state  which  our  Lord  upbraided 
them  with — "  their  unbelief  and  hardness  of 
heart,  because  they  believed  not  them  which 
had  seen  him  after  he  was  risen."  To  give 
still  further  evidence  that  it  was  he,  he  said  to 
them,  "  Have  ye  here  any  meat  ?  and  they 
gave  him  a  piece  of  a  broiled  fish  and  of  an 
honeycomb.  And  he  took  it,  and  did  eat  be- 
fore them."  This  act  seemed  to  remove  all 
doubt,  and  "  then  were  the  disciples  glad  when 
they  saw  the  Lord." 

Again  does  he  enter  into  discourse  with 
those  present  as  to  the  '*  things  written  in  the 
law  of  Moses  and  in  the  prophets  and  in  the 
Psalms  concerning  him,"  thus  conclusively 
showing  the  Messianic  bearing  of  these  por- 
tions of  holy  writ.  Gladly  do  they  listen  as  he 
"opened  their  understanding,  that  they  might 
understand  the  Scriptures."  The  whole  scheme 
of  Christian  doctrine  seems  to  have  been  set 
before  them,  as  he   showed  how  "  it  behooved 


35^  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Christ  to  suffer  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the 
third  day,"  and  that  repentance  and  remission 
of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name  among 
all  nations,  "beginning  at  Jerusalem."  He  then, 
as  it  were,  turns  to  his  selected  disciples,  and 
says,  "  Ye  are  witnesses  of  these  things,"  the 
chosen  men  to  testify  to  the  facts  and  truths 
I  have  now  taught.  He  told  them,  however, 
that  they  were  to  remain  in  Jerusalem  until 
they  received  "  the  promise  of  the  Father " — 
viz.,  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost — and  thus 
'  be  "  endued  with  power  from  on  high." 

During  this  interview,  also,  as  St.  Mark  informs 
us,  Jesus  gave  them  their  great  commission,  pre- 
mising it  with  the  solemn  benediction,  ''  Peace 
be  unto  you  !  As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even 
so  send  I  you."  The  terms  of  this  commission 
were,  ''  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  The  sio-ns 
or  credentials  which  were  to  attest  their  mis- 
sion and  certify  to  its  authority  were  these. 
"In  my  name,"  says  Jesus,  "shall  they  cast 
out  devils  ;  they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues ; 
they  shall  take  up  serpents ;  and  if  they  drink 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  359 

any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them  ;  they 
shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick,  and  they  shall  re- 
cover." Thus  their  commission  was  as  broad 
as  the  world,  as  lasting  as  time,  as  authoritative 
as  Christ's  own  mission  from  the  Father.  The 
eveninor  wore  on  as  these  memorable  words 
and  scenes  were  spoken  and  dorte.  At  its  close 
he  called  the  eleven  apostles  close  to  him, 
and  separating  them  from  the  rest,  "  He  breath- 
ed on  them"  as  a  symbol  of  the  divine  Spirit 
which  he  was  to  bestow,  and  said,  "Receive 
ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whosesoever  sins  ye  remit, 
they  are  remitted  unto  them ;  and  whosesoever 
sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained." 

By  this  mysterious  act  Christ  prepared  his 
apostles  for  "  the  promise  of  the  Father,"  and 
made  them  receptive  of  the  gift  which  fifty 
days  after  was  to  descend  in  Pentecostal  full- 
ness, amidst  the  sound  of  ''a  mighty  rushing 
wind  "  and  the  ''  tongue  like  flames,"  indicative 
of  the  viewlessness,  the  resistlessness,  and  the 
illuminating  character  of  the  operations  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

With  this  act  of  Jesus,  and  with  these  words, 
by  which  he  put  into  the  hands  of  the  apostles 
the    keys    of  the   kingdom  of  heaven,    closed 


',6o  THE   SABBATHS  OF  OUR   LORD. 


J 


the  first  Lord's  day  on  earth.  UnHke  the  Jew- 
ish Sabbath,  which  began  the  evening  before, 
this  day  did  not  begin  until  "early  in  the  morn- 
inor"  when  Christ  rose  from  the  dead.  Unlike 
the  Jewish  Sabbath,  which  ended  at  sunset,  this 
day  did  not  end  until  after  the  evening  interview 
of  Christ  with  his  disciples  in  the  closed  room  in 
Jerusalem.  Henceforth  the  Hebrew  division 
of  days  gives  place  to  the  Roman,  and  the 
hours  are  to  be  numbered  as  in  the  Roman 
calendar. 

We  cannot  close  the  narrative  of  the  events 
of  this  first  Lord's  day  without  pausing  a  moment 
upon  their  significance  and  influence. 

The  transactions  of  this  day  are  second  in 
importance  to  those  of  no  other  day  since  the 
world  began.  The  nativity  of  Jesus  Christ  was 
a  great  event,  and  was  signalized  by  great  won- 
ders, the  appearance  of  an  angel  of  the  Lord — 
a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  chanting  glory 
to  God  in  the  highest,  and  the  shining  out  of  a 
new  star  In  the  east. 

The  death  of  Jesus  Christ  was  a  great  event, 
and  was  signalized  by  great  wonders — the 
mid-day  darkness,  the  hiding  sun,  the  rending 
of    the    temple   veil,    the    quaking    earth,    the 


THE   FIR^T  LORD'S  DAY.  36 1 

opening  graves,  the  tokens  of  nature's  mourn- 
img  when  the  Lord  of  nature  died  on  the  cross. 

If  the  birth  and  death  of  Jesus  were  thus 
accompanied  by  such  miraculous  portents,  sure- 
ly the  day  on  which  he  rose  from  the  dead 
ought,  by  analogy,  to  be  alike  signalized  by 
signs  and  wonders.  And  so  it  was,  ''for  there 
was  a  great  earthquake,"  the  angel  of  the  Lord, 
with  countenance  lik>e  lio^htninof  and  raiment 
like  snow,  rolled  away  the  sealed  and  guarded 
stone ;  two  angels  remained  in  the  tomb ;  and 
angel  lips  uttered  the  first  strophe  of  that  an- 
them, ''  The  Lord  Is  risen,"  which  has  been  the 
Easter  song  of  the  Christian  world  for  eighteen 
centuries. 

The  events  of  this  day  prove  the  divinity  of 
Christ's  words,  works  and  person ;  for  as  the 
raising  of  his  own  dead  body  was  a  greater 
miracle  than  any  he  had  performed  in  the  flesh, 
hence,  this  being  proved,  all  the  others  are 
proved  thereby,  inasmuch  as  the  ability  to  do  the 
greater  Includes  the  ability  to  do  the  lesser.  It 
is  said,  indeed,  that  "  God  raised  him  from  the 
dead"  (Acts  ii.  24,  32;  Hi.  15  ;  Gal.  I.  i),  that  he 
was  "  quickened  (or  made  alive)  by  the  Spirit " 
(the    Holy  Ghost),    i   Pet.  Hi.  18.     But  in  the 

31 


362  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

unity  of  will  and  act  which  exists  in  the  Holy 
Trinity,  actions  and  affections  are  ascribed  at 
times  to  one  and  at  times  to  another,  according 
to  the  phase  of  truth  which  the  sacred  writers 
wish  to  present  to  our  minds.  And  this  is  one 
of  the  leading  lines  of  argument  by  which  we 
prove  the  distinctive  personality,  yet  divine 
unity,  of  the  three  persons  of  the  ever  adorable 
Trinity,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost. 

In  saying,  then,  that  the  resurrection  was  the 
work  of  God  the  Father,  the  apostle  means  to 
remove  it  from  its  merely  human  aspect,  and  to 
assert  it  as  beinor  done  in  accordance  with  the 
will  and  purpose  of  almighty  God,  so  that  it 
should  receive  in  the  minds  of  the  Jews  the 
sanction  and  endorsement  of  Jehovah. 

In  saying  that  Christ  "was  put  to  death  in 
the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  spirit!'  St.  Peter 
doubtless  meant  to  convey  the  idea  that,  as  he 
was  put  to  death  by  a  carnal  or  fleshly  power, 
he  was  raised  up  by  a  divine  or  spiritual  power, 
of  which  spiritual  power  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  the 
Lord  and  Giver  of  life,"  is  the  divine  embodi- 
ment and  representative. 

But  when  we  look  at  Christ's  own  words,  we 
shall  see  clearly  that,  though  in  the  unity  of  the 


THE  FIRST  LORD'S  DAY.  363 

Godhead,  die  resurrection  was  ascribed  to  God 
the  Father,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  yet  the  ef- 
ficient and  acting  agent  was  God  the  Son. 

"  Destroy  this  temple,"  he  said  on  one  occa- 
sion (speaking  of  the  temple  of  his  body),  and 
**  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up ;"  *'  I  lay  down 
my  life  that  I  may  take  it  again."  "  No  man 
taketh  it  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself; 
I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power 
to  take  it  again." 

On  another  occasion  he  said,  "  As  the  Father 
raiseth  up  the  dead  and  quickeneth  them,  even 
so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom  he  will."  His  decla- 
ration to  Martha  was,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life."  ''It  remaineth,  therefore,"  says  Bishop 
Pearson,  "  that  Christ,  by  that  power  which  he 
had  within  himself,  did  take  his  life  again,  which 
he  had  laid  down,  did  reunite  his  soul  unto  his 
body,  from  which  he  had  separated  it  when  he 
gave  up  the  ghost,  and  so  did  quicken  and 
revive  himself".  Thus,  then,  by  this  crowning 
miracle,  wrought  in  the  tomb  of  Joseph,  on  this 
Lord's  day  morning,  did  Jesus  stamp  with  the 
image  and  superscription  of  divinity  all  his 
previous  words  and  works,  and  attested  as  true 
the  glorious  gospel   of  the   Son   of   God.     St, 


364  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

Paul  rests  the  whole  superstructure  of  Chris- 
tianity on  the  foundation  of  the  resurrection, 
saying  unqualifiedly,  ''If  Christ  be  not  raised, 
your  faith  is  vain :  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins." 
Hence  the  efforts  which  have  been  so  often 
made  to  overthrow  the  truth  of  the  resurrection 
by  the  enemies  of  our  holy  religion.  If  that 
could  be  disproved,  the  whole  superincumbent 
mass  of  the  Christian  Church  would  topple  down, 
and  the  faith,  and  hope,  and  love,  of  the  Chris- 
tian world,  would  become  one  world-wide  ruin, 
wrecking  alike  soul  and  body,  for  time  and  for 
eternity. 

The  events  of  this  first  Lord's  day  prove 
also  that  death  and  the  grave  are  conquered 
foes. 

If  death  and  the  grave  had  detained  Jesus  in 
the  tomb,  then  would  it  have  proved  that  he 
was  a  sinner  like  other  men,  and  came  under 
the  conditions  of  our  common  humanity:  "Dust 
thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return."  But 
"his  soul  was  not  left  in  hell  (the  grave),  neither 
did  his  flesh  see  corruption."  He  went  down  to 
the  domain  of  death,  that  in  death's  own  region 
he  might  "conquer  him  who  had  the  power  of 
death."     He  lay  down  in  the  grave  that  there 


THE   FIRST  LORD'S  DAY. 


3^5 


he  might  wrest  victory  from  the  grave  ;  and 
there  indeed,  single-handed,  he  encountered 
man's  last  enemy ;  and  returning  thence  with 
the  trophies  of  his  triumph,  "leading  captivity 
captive,"  he  puts  into  our  mouths  the  shout, 
''  Thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Do  not  these  facts   give  to  this  day  a  holy 
pre-eminence  and  invest  it  with  peculiar  glory  ? 


31  * 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE  CHANGE  OF  DAY  FROM  THE  SEVENTH 

TO  THE  FIRST 

HE  change  of  the  day  of  the  Sabbath 
from  the  seventh  day,  observed  by 
the  Jews,  to  the  first,  kept  by  the 
Christians,  does  not  affect  the  binding  authority 
of  the  command,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day 
to  keep  it  holy,"  if  it  can  be  shown,  that  the 
change  was  made  by  competent  authority,  for 
sufficient  reasons,  and  without  destroying  or 
infringing  the  two  principles  at  the  root  of  the 
command,  viz.,  to  give  one-seventh  of  our  time 
to  God,  and  to  keep  this  one-seventh  portion 
holy  to  his  name.  A  change  has  been  made. 
The  Christian  world,  with  scarce  an  exception, 
keeps  as  sacred  the  first  day  of  the  week.  Ai.nd 
we  ask.  Was  the  change  made  by  competent  au- 
thority ? 

The  only  competent  authority  would  be  Christ 

366 


THE   CHANGE    OF  DAY.  367 

and  his  apostles :  Christ  as  head  over  all  things 
to  the  Church,  which  is  his  body;  the  apostles 
as   commissioned  by  him   to   set  in  order  the 
affairs  of  his  kingdom  on  earth  ;  and  hence  the 
Chiirch  of  the  livinof  God  is  said  to  be  "built 
upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  proph- 
ets, Jesus  Christ  being  the  chief  corner-stone." 
Whatever  ordinances  we  find,  then,  established 
by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  we  hold  to  be  binding 
on  us,  as  being  established  directly  or  indirectly 
by  competent  authority.     Now,  we  know  that 
there  was  no  express  command  to  change  the 
day  from  the  seventh  to  the  first,  but  the  absence 
of  an  express  command  does  not  invalidate  the 
chancre.     For  be  it  remembered  here  that  the 
commandment  does  not   read,   Remember  the 
seveiith  day,  to  keep  it  holy,  but.  Remember  the 
Sabbath  (the  rest)  day,  to  keep  it  holy.     Hence, 
as   the   essence   of   the  law  lay  in  the  setting 
apart   a   holy  rest,  which    essence    is    still    un- 
touched,  it   was    not    necessary   to    make    any 
formal  legislation  about  a  day  which  is,  in  Its 
very  nature,  a  variable  thing,  changing  wdth  the 
changing  dispensations  and'  shifting  longitudes 
of  earth. 

God,  by  raising  Christ  from  the  dead  on  the 


368  THE  SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD, 

first  day  of  the  week,  set  his  seal  to  the  change 
of  day. 

Christ,  by  rising  on  that  day,  and  by  twice 
specially  meeting  with  his  disciples  on  that  day, 
by  imparting  to  them  that  day  his  '*  Peace,"  by 
breathing  on  them  that  day  and  saying,  "  Re- 
ceive ye  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  by  giving  to 
them  that  day  their  marvelous  commission  as 
heralds  of  the  cross,  set  his  seal  to  the  change 
of  day.   - 

The  Holy  Ghost,  by  descending  on  that  day 
in  tongue-like  flames,  and  with  a  rushing  mighty 
wind,  imparting  to  the  apostles  the  promised 
power  of  the  Spirit,  giving  to  them  the  gift  of 
tongues,  converting  three  thousand  souls,  as 
the  "wave-sheaf"  of  "the  feast  of  first  fruits" 
of  the  gospel  dispensation,  set  his  seal  to  the 
change  of  day. 

The  apostles,  instructed  by  our  Lord  during 
the  forty  days  which  he  was  with  them  after  his 
resurrection,  when  it  is  recorded  that  "  he  spake 
to  them  of  the  things  pertaining  to  his  king- 
dom," instituted  the  first  day  of  the  week  as 
their  day  of  meeting,  established  this  day  as 
the  one  on  which  to  celebrate  the  Lord's 
Supper,  ordered   it   as   a   day  for  the   special 


THE   CHANGE    OF  DAY.  369 

setting  apart  of  benevolent  contributions,  and 
so  filled  its  hours  with  holy  remembrances  of 
Jesus  and  holy  doings  for  Jesus,  as  to  set  their 
seal  to  the  change  of  day. 

The  Church,  acting  upon  apostolic  precept 
and  example,  established  its  most  solemn  and 
permanent  services  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  and  thus  set  its  seal  to  the  chanee  of  the 
day.  While  the  Jews  formed  so  large  a  part 
of  the  Church,  it  did  not  ignore  altogether  the 
seventh  day,  because  the  shock  would  have 
been  too  great  to  Jewish  prejudices,  but  it 
gave  pre-eminence  to  the  first  day,  as  we  learn 
from  Ignatius,  Pliny,  Justin  Martyr,  the  Apos- 
tolic Constitutions,  Tertullian,  Dionysius  of 
Corinth  and  other  early  writers.  When,  by 
the  expansion  of  the  Church  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, the  Jewish  element  and  Jewish  obser- 
vances grew  less  and  less,  and  when,  after  the 
lapse  of  three  centuries,  the  Christian  element 
had  permeated  and  moulded  the  political  world, 
the  observance  of  "  the  first  day  "  was  enforced 
by  the  imperial  edicts  of  Constantine,  Theodo- 
sius,  Valentinian  and  Honorius,  and  by  the 
synodal  decrees  of  the  councils  of  Carthage, 
Illiberis,  Sardica,  Trullo  and  Laodicea. 

Y 


370  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

There  was,  therefore,  every  reason  why  there 
should  be  a  change  of  day  from  the  Mosaic  to 
the  Christian  dispensation,  as  the  Bible  leads  us 
to  believe  that  there  was  from  the  Patriarchal 
to  the  Mosaic.  Nor  was  the  change  of  day  all 
that  marked  the  introduction  of  the  gospel.  It 
has  been  well  remarked  "  that  the  whole  state 
of  the  Church  of  God  underwent  a  revolution. 
Almost  everything  was  changed  in  some  way 
and  to  some  extent.  The  Mediator  was 
changed:  Moses  for  Christ.  The  priesthood 
was  changed :  the  Aaronic  for  the  Apostolic. 
The  law  was  changed :  the  Levitical  for  the 
Evangelical.  The  worship  was  changed:  the 
gorgeous  ritual  and  bloody  sacrifices  of  the 
Temple,  for  the  simple  rites  of  the  House  of 
Prayer.  The  sacraments  were  changed :  the 
Passover  for  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  Circum- 
cision for  Baptism.  With  all  these  changes, 
then,  with  everything  thus  made  new,  is  it 
wonderful  that  the  day  of  the  Sabbath  was  also 
chano;ed?"  Would  it  not  have  been  a  marvel 
had  it  not  been  chano-ed  ?  When  we  remember 
how  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  like  the  Jewish  worship, 
had  become  gradually  encrusted  with  the  tradi- 


THE    CHANGE    OF  DAY.  3/1 

tlons  of  the  elders,  so  that  it  was  perverted 
from  its  original  intent  of  mercy,  and  void  of  its 
original  end  of  holiness,  do  we  not  see  the  pro- 
priety of  laying  it  and  the  temple  both  aside, 
that  the  new  wine  of  the  gospel  might  be 
poured,  not  into  the  old  bottles,  cracked  and 
shriveled  in  the  smoke  of  Jewish  sacrifices  and 
traditions,  but  into  the  new  bottles  of  the 
Christian  Church  and  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
untainted  by  superstition,  uncorrupted  by  rab- 
binical glosses,  and  better  fitted  for  the  office 
designed  of  making  the  Christian  rest  day  a 
Sabbath,  a  Lord's  day  for  all  nations,  whom  the 
Lord  hath  redeemed  ? 

Had  there  been  no  change  from  the  seventh 
to  the  first  day,  the  Christian  Church  would 
have  kept  its  weekly  festival  on  the  day  when 
Christ  lay  buried  in  the  tomb,  that  day  of  sad- 
ness and  sorrow  to  the  Lord's  disciples — that 
day  of  dark  forebodings  and  sepulchral  as- 
sociations, wherein  we  should  have  contem- 
plated death's  power  over  Christ  rather  than 
Christ's  power  over  death ;  death's  victim  in  his 
grave-clothes,  rather  than  death's  victor  in  his 
resurrection  robes ;  and  have  passed  over  (or 
else    kept    two    days    holy)    the    day   of    days 


IJ2  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR   LORD. 

which  commemorates  Christ's  risinof  from  the 
tomb  as  the  conqueror  of  death  and  hell. 

And  if  to  this  weight  of  testimony  and  au- 
thority, which  can  neither  be  reasonably  gain- 
sayed  nor  resisted,  we  add  the  remarkable  fact 
that  the  Church  of  Christ  has  kept  this  first  day 
of  the  week  as  the  Lord's  day  for  over  eighteen 
Jutndred years  ;  that  with  this  Church  Christ  has 
promised  to  be  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  yet, 
so  far  from  reproving  or  condemning  the  set- 
ting aside  of  the  seventh  day,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  first  as  the  Christian  Sabbath,  he  has 
more  specially  blessed  that  day,  has  more  pecu- 
liarly been  present  with  his  people  on  that  day, 
has  made  it  more  than  any  other,  the  birthday 
of  souls  into  spiritual  life,  and  that  these  bless- 
ings have  been  vouchsafed,  not  only  to  the 
Church  on  this  day,  but  to  the  persons,  the 
families,  the  communities,  the  nations  who  have 
kept  this  day, — does  it  not  give  to  the  first  day 
of  the  week  the  full  sanction,  as  it  has  ever 
been  marked  with  the  full  blessing,  of  God? 

Can  we  need  further  evidence  that  the  day 
was  changed — changed  by  competent  authority, 
changed  for  justifiable  and  appropriate  circum- 
stances,  changed   without    infringing  upon  the 


THE    CHANGE    OF  DAY,  373 

letter  or  spirit  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  yet  so 
changed,  that  the  two  essential  elements  of  the 
original  Sabbath  in  Eden  and  the  Sabbath  of 
the  Decalogue  are  strictly  preserved — viz.,  the 
eivinof  of  one-seventh  of  our  time  to  God  and 
the  keeping  of  this  one-seventh  time  holy  to  the 
Lord? 

This  is  the  day,  then,  called  "  Sabbath,"  be- 
cause the  word  means  rest,  termed  in  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation  '^  the  Lord's  day,"  because 
especially  consecrated  by  and  devoted  to  Christ, 
of  which  God  says,  "  Hallow  the  Sabbath  day." 
To  hallow  a  thing  is  to  sanctify  or  make  it  holy, 
or  to  treat  it  as  a  holy  thing  and  to  use  toward 
it  reverence  and  devotion.  It  is  in  this  latter 
way  that  we  are  to  hallow  God's  name — a  name 
holy  in  itself  as  expressive  of  the  essence  and 
attributes  of  a  Holy  God,  but  a  name  which 
we  are  ever  to  treat  as  hallowed,  and  toward 
which  we  are  ever  to  conduct  ourselves  with 
reverence  and  devotion.  But  the  Sabbath  is  a 
day  that  we  can  hallow  or  profane  as  we  list, 
and  hence,  when  we  are  called  upon  to  hallow 
it,  it  is  enjoined  upon  us  to  make  It  holy  by 
hallowing  it  with  public  worship,  with  private 
devotion,    with    holy   conduct   and    meditation, 

32 


374  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

with  abstinence  from  secular  work  and  duties, 
and  with  an  entire  consecration  of  it  to  the 
Lord.  The  care  with  which  God  legislated  for 
the  Jewish  Sabbath  proves  how  jealous  he  was 
of  its  sacred  character.  In  it  they  were  to  do 
no  manner  of  work,  "  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy 
daughter,  thy  man  servant,  nor  thy  maid  ser- 
vant, nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is 
within  thy  gates."  No  burdens  were  to  be 
borne  on  that  day.  No  fire  was  to  be  kindled 
on  that  day.  In  earing-time  and  in  harvest 
they  were  to  rest  on  that  day.  Buying  and  sell- 
ing on  that  day  were  unlawful,  and  whosoever 
did  any  work  therein  was  to  be  put  to  death ; 
and  a  case  of  this  sort  is  recorded  in  the  Book 
of  Numbers,  where  a  man  found  gathering 
sticks  on  the  Sabbath  was  by  the  express 
command  of  God  stoned  to  death  without  the 
camp. 

As  if  to  give  greater  solemnity  to  this  day, 
additional  sacrifices  were  offered  on  it,  and  holy 
convocations,  or  assemblies  for  public  worship, 
were  to  be  holden,  especially  when  the  Sabbath 
was  a  high  day,  as  at  the  feasts  of  Passover, 
Pentecost  and  Tabernacles.  The  Jewish  rab- 
bins had  gradually  so  overlaid  the  law  of  the 


THE   CHANGE    OF  DAY.  375 

Sabbath  with  glosses  and  traditions  that  our 
Saviour  truly  stigmatized  them  as  "  teaching  for 
doctrine  the  commandments  of  men."  Thus, 
according  to  the  Jerusalem  Gemara,  "  they  must 
not  blow  the  fire  with  a  pair  of  bellows,  because 
that  was  too  much  like  the  labor  of  smiths,  but 
they  might  blow  it  through  a  hollow  cane." 
They  might  make  a  fire  and  set  on  their  pot, 
but  they  must  not  lay  on  their  wood  like  the 
structure  of  a  house — that  is,  too  artificially. 
They  might  wash  their  feet,  but  not  their  whole 
body.  Other  rabbinical  writers  say  that  it  is 
not  lawful  to  roast  an  apple,  nor  to  climb  a  tree 
lest  they  break  a  bough,  nor  to  sing  a  lullaby  to 
a  crying  babe.  He  who  took  corn  from  his 
field  to  the  quantity  of  a  fig  was  deemed  guilty, 
and  he  who  plucked  up  anything  growing  was 
regarded  as  reaping,  and  consequently  guilty. 
These,  with  many  other  puerile  and  senseless 
additions,  had  been  affixed  to  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath,  by  which,  so  far  from  hallowing 
it,  they  desecrated  it,  and  made  it  a  bondage 
and  a  o^rlevance  rather  than  a  delight. 

Our  blessed  Lord  swept  away  many  of  these 
glosses,  both  by  his  word  and  his  example,  and 
restored  the  Sabbath  to  its  leoltlmate  end  when 


3/6  THE   SABBATHS   OF  OUR  LORD. 

he  declared  that  "the  Sabbath  was  made  for 
man,  not  man  for  the  Sabbath ;"  and  he  exer- 
cised his  Lordship,  not  only  by  reclaiming-  it 
from  Jewish  traditions  under  which  it  lay  smoth- 
ered and  distorted,  but  by  showing  us  in  his 
life  how  we  should  regard  the  day — with  wdiat 
works  of  love  and  mercy  we  should  occupy  its 
sacred  hours.  As  he  kept  the  Sabbath  holy 
by  meeting  with  the  congregation  for  holy 
w^orship ;  by  offices  of  holy  benevolence  and 
mercy ;  by  seasons  of  holy  meditation  and  de- 
votion ;  by  abstaining  from  all  secular  pursuits, 
and  by  honoring  the  day  with  the  reverence 
which  it  claimed,  so  should  we.  Then,  like  the 
beloved  disciple,  shall  we  be  in  the  Spirit  on 
the  Lord's  day,  and  thus  fulfill  the  command. 
Hallow  the  Sabbath  day. 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  THIS  VOLUME. 


THE 


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